Mumbai: Disqualification of MLAs, agitations for quota by different communities and cabinet expansion remained the issues that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde discussed with his two deputies, Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar on Saturday night at his official residence Varsha, sources have said.
After Supreme Court gave directives to Speaker of Maharashtra assembly Rahul Narvekar to give the detailed schedule of the hearing of the petitions pending before him seeking disqualification of Shiv Sena MLAs and the consequent aggression shown from the Shiv Sena (UBT) camp, CM Shinde appears to have taken the issue seriously. He held a meeting with DCM Fadnavis and DCM Ajit Pawar at his residence on Saturday night, which lasted for well over two hours. The primary topic of the meeting was disqualification petitions, sources said. The trio discussed whether the state government should hire a law firm for various legal issues that might arise from the disqualification petition. Also, how the state government's law and justice department can help in the issue, remained one of the topics, the sources said.
Tension brewing between Shinde and Pawar?
Throughout the Ganesh festival over the past 10 days, DCM Ajit Pawar was never seen at Varsha. He was neither present during union home minister Amit Shah's visit, nor did he make a point to visit Ganesha at Varsha for darshan like he did with the one at fellow DCM Fadnavis' home Sagar. That had led to speculations regarding the tension brewing between Shinde and Pawar. However, the meeting on Saturday showed that the speculations were baseless, the sources added.
Issue of reservation discussed at meeting
The trio also discussed the various agitations for reservation currently going on in the state. While Jarange-Patil, who led the Maratha community's agitation is currently touring the state, the Dhangar community's agitation doesn't seem to die down even after the assurances from the government. The trio discussed measures that can be engaged to pursue these communities to end agitations and agree to measures suggested by the government, the sources said.
Cabinet expansion and political appointments
Another issue discussed at the meeting was that of the cabinet expansion and political appointments on various government owned corporations and various other government establishments. While much of the ground work regarding these appointments has already been done by the other leaders of the parties that comprise the ruling Maha Aghadi alliance, the trio went through the lists again, the sources said. The lists are likely to be sent to Delhi for final approval soon, they added. On the backdrop of the disqualification petition, the trio is also learnt to have weighed various options related to the cabinet expansion.
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