Eknath Shinde wants home portfolio in Devendra Fadnavis-led Maharashtra govt: Shiv Sena leader

The Shiv Sena, led by Maharashtra deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde, reiterated on Friday that its leader has demanded the crucial home portfolio from the BJP, adding that the three Mahayuti allies were holding talks regarding portfolio allocation.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party constitute the Mahayuti, which registered an emphatic win in last month’s assembly polls. BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis took oath as chief minister, with Eknath Shinde and Pawar and his deputies, on Thursday, 12 days after the results.

“When Fadnavis was the deputy CM (in the previous Shinde-led government), he also held the home department. Now, Saheb has demanded the same arrangement and talks (on portfolio allocation) are in progress,” news agency PTI quoted Gogavale as saying.

The Raigad MLA added, “The demand was probably made to Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Union Home Minister Amit Shah. We hope the talks on portfolios would be over in the next two days.”

According to reports, Shinde was “reluctant” to accept the deputy CM post but was convinced by Sena leaders for the job. However, he is adamant about the home department, to which the state police report.

In June 2022, the Maratha strongman from Thane rebelled against then-chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, the head of a joint Shiv Sena. This led to a vertical split in the party and triggered the collapse of the Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

Shinde then became chief minister with support from the BJP, Thackeray’s former ally. Fadnavis, then a former CM, was made his deputy, and was joined by Pawar in July 2023.