Wadettiwar takes charge; portfolio confusion solved

Mumbai: Senior Congress leader and OBC minister Vijay Wadettiwar finally took charge of his department Friday. He was said to be miffed over the portfolio allocated to him and his party.

Revenue minister and Congress state president, Balasaheb Thorat, is said to have managed to pacify him.

“I am not miffed with my party but with the portfolios that have been allocated to my party. The portfolios that we were supposed to get have been allocated to the Shiv Sena. The department has connection with the rural parts of the state. The Relief and Rehabilitation (R&R) department is meant for the farmers who may be caught in a crisis. The R&R department is meant to serve the common man,” Mr Wadettiwar said after taking charge of his
department.

He said that the portfolio was with the Congress party during distribution of portfolios among the three parties – NCP, Congress and Sena.

Mr Wadettiwar skipped the first cabinet meeting after the expansion of the Uddhav Thackeray-led cabinet. He also remained absent from the special session of the state Legislative Assembly after being allotted a portfolio that left him with nothing much to do — OBC welfare, saltpan development and R&R (earthquake).

Now, however, Mr Wadettiwar will handle the bigger R&R department in addition to his other portfolios after a “typing error” was corrected Friday.

Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar Thursday clarified that R&R was mentioned as earthquake rehabilitation owing to a printing error and hence, confusion was created.

Another Congress leader Sanjay Lakhe Patil said that as R&R was with the Congress during the allocation of portfolios within the three parties, it was decided that the portfolio would remain with the Congress. “We have requested the CM to rectify the printing mistake,” Mr Patil said.

Sources said that Mr Thorat rushed to New Delhi and convinced the party leadership to speak to  chief minister Uddhav Thackeray about correcting the portfolio and later, Mr Thackeray himself called Mr Wadettiwar to inform him that the mistake would be
rectified.