Mumbai: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray is all set to be sworn in as Maharashtra’s 18th chief minister at 6.40 pm on Thursday. He will lead the first ever alliance of the hardcore Hindutva party and the NCP and Congress, marking an end to a political drama that began with the declaration of the results of Assembly polls on October 24 and took several dramatic turns.
Mr Thackeray and his wife Rashmi met governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Wednesday morning. Minutes earlier, NCP’s Ajit Pawar, in a dramatic “ghar wapsi” was received — after his brief rebellion against uncle Sharad Pawar — with a warm hug from his daughter Supriya Sule as she welcomed MLAs of her party and Shiv Sena before their oath in the Maharashtra Assembly in the morning.
While preparations for the swearing-in at Mumbai’s sprawling Shivaji Park were on in full swing, the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) led by Mr Thackeray seems to have taken a cautious approach to forming the new Council of Ministers.
Contrary to earlier reports of the MVA having a full-fledged council, only five or six ministers — two each from the Shiv Sena and NCP and one or two from the Congress — apart from the chief minister are likely to take oath on Thursday.
The leaders of the MVA met at YB Chavan Centre in south Mumbai on Wednesday evening to discuss the formation of the Council of Ministers.
At the meeting, attended by Mr Thackeray, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Congress veteran Ahmed Patel and other MVA leaders, it was decided that the posts of deputy chief minister and deputy Speaker would be given to the NCP, while the Congress will have the Speaker’s post in Vidhan Sabha. The Sena will hold the CM’s post for five years.
The NCP has finalised Jayant Patil’s name for the deputy chief minister’s post. Chhagan Bhujbal will be the second minister from NCP to take oath on Thursday.
Prithviraj Chavan will be the Congress’ candidate for the Speaker’s post, while Balasaheb Thorat will be the Congress minister taking oath on Thursday. From Shiv Sena, Eknath Shinde will be sworn in as a Cabinet minister along with Mr Thackeray.
According to sources, though plans of a full-fledged council have been put on hold, eventually the Shiv Sena is likely to 16 ministerial berths, NCP likely to get 14 and the Congress may get 13 ministerial berths.
Maharashtra can have a maximum of 43 ministers. The size of Council of Ministers cannot exceed 15 per cent of the total number of MLAs, which is 288 in the state. The Shiv Sena has 56 MLAs, NCP 54 and Congress 44 legislators respectively.
NCP leader Praful Patel said, “We have sent two names from our party for the swearing-in ceremony. One or two leaders each from three parties will take oath on Thursday.”
The governor has given the MVA till December 3 to prove its majority. The expansion of the ministry will be carried out after that, he added.
Interim Speaker Kalidas Kolambkar, who was appointed by the governor after swift developments on Tuesday propelled the NCP-Congress-Shiv Sena combine to form government, will oversee the oath ceremony at Shivaji Park in Dadar, a traditional venue for Shiv Sena events, including founder Bal Thackeray’s Dussehra rallies.
Mr Thackeray will have to become a member of the Maharashtra Assembly or the Legislative Council within six months of taking oath as chief minister. Sources say the Sena chief, who has never contested an election, is likely to take the council route.
Some of the Sena ministers who are likely to be inducted into the Cabinet after expansion are Subhash Desai, Ravindra Waikar, Deepak Kesarkar, Uday Samant, Dada Bhuse, Gulabrao Patil, Sanjay Raimulkar and Sunil Prabhu.
The NCP is likely to name leaders such as Dilip Walse-Patil, Nawab Malik, Hasan Mushrif, Rajendra Shingane and Dhananjay Munde. And Congress leaders likely to joing Mr Thackeray’s Council of Ministers are Ashok Chavan, Vijay Wadettiwar, Varsha Gaikwad, Amin Patel, Vishwajeet Kadam, K.C. Padvi, Yashomati Thakur and Nitin Raut.
Smaller allies are also likely to be given ministries, but their share has not been finalised yet.
According to public works department sources, nearly 50,000 people are expected to attend Mr Thackeray’s swearing in, and special seating arrangements will also be made for the families of 700-odd farmers. While the Sena sought chairs to accommodate 50,000 people, the governor’s office has approved the setting up of 30,000 chairs.
Over 300 workers, officers and supervisors were on their toes preparing for the ceremony. Sena MP Vinayak Raut, who is also the leader of the party in Lok Sabha, was supervising the preparations.
“We are expecting 50,000 people for the ceremony. Family members of farmers who committed suicide are specially invited for the ceremony and there will be a separate seating arrangements for them,” he said.
