‘Leftovers’: INDIA bloc takes potshots at BJP allies after portfolio allocation

The Opposition’s INDIA bloc on Monday took potshots at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies over the allocation of portfolios in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet, claiming the party’s National Democratic Alliance partners were treated unfairly.

The Narendra Modi government, cognizant of the proverbial coalition dharma, gave substantial representation to BJP’s NDA allies in the Union Cabinet. However, most of the plum ministries, including Home, Finance, External Affairs and Defence, were allocated to the party’s MPs.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh claimed PM Modi “humbled” his allies from Maharashtra.

Jairam Ramesh said NCP leader Praful Patel had “refused” an offer from “one-third pradhan mantri” to be in his ministry.

“He (Patel) should know that a special feature of the BJP-brand washing machine is that it has various modes ‘slow, fast, and super-fast’. He may not have made the cut. On the other hand, Ravneet Bittu clearly is on super-fast mode, even after having lost Ludhiana to his former party,” the Congress leader said on X.

He said Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena just received one MoS (independent) berth, whereas Jitan Ram Manjhi, Chirag Paswan, HD Kumaraswamy got Cabinet berths despite having a lesser number of MPs supporting the government.

“The other man who finds himself out of favour is Eknath Shinde. He has only got one MoS (independent charge) having less stake in this government than Mr. Jitan Ram Manjhi, Mr. Chirag Paswan, and Mr. HD Kumaraswamy, despite having more MPs than any of them,” Jairam Ramesh claimed.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, which won only 240 seats, relies on its allies — Nitish Kumar, N Chandrababu Naidu and Eknath Shinde — for majority in the Lok Sabha.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said the BJP handed jhunjhuna (a child’s toy) to NDA allies.

“I feel the ministers from Bihar have been given just a jhunjhuna. Bihar has played a big role in the formation of the new government. Of course, it is the prerogative of the Prime Minister to allot departments. I feel work should be done in all departments,” Yadav said.

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, who lost the Lok Sabha polls, claimed the BJP gave its allies leftovers.

“For all the talk about the NDA partners pressing for their fair share in the Modi 3.0 ministry, they obviously don’t have much sway in the corridors of power. The portfolios given to the allies are the leftovers because the BJP hasn’t left anything meaningful for them. You can bet your bottom dollar the post of Speaker Lok Sabha will stay with the BJP as well,” he wrote on X.