Maharashtra cabinet reshuffle in the offing

Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan is set to affect major changes in his cabinet, whose constitution is likely to be announced on Monday. 

His promise of balanced representation may lead to the dropping of at least 10 current minsters to accommodate those from the backward regions of Marathwada and Vidarbha, especially as deputy CM Ajit Pawar also comes from the prosperous western Maharashtra.

Union defence minister AK Anthony, who is also in-charge of Maharashtra affairs, arrived in Delhi late Sunday evening, thus paving the way for the final discussions on cabinet composition. The key dilemma facing the Congress core committee is how to deliver on its twin promises of representation and clean governance, as both are not congruent.

A Congress functionary said, “Chavan cannot apply the clean candidate parameters without taking into consideration the electoral merit of the individuals. After all, the challenge before Chavan is to ensure effective administration and party growth. One cannot be compromised for the other.”
Even so, senior ministers Narayan Rane, Balasaheb Thorat, Harshvardhan Patil, Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil are all set to corner plum portfolios, perhaps to counter Congress ally, the NCP, which has retained its top ten ministers who are well established and experienced.

Among those Congress ministers whose fate remains uncertain include former ministers Nitin Raut, Shivajirao Moghe, Ranjit Kamble, all from the Vidarbha region. Similarly, there is adequate room for change as Naseem Khan and Varsha Gaikwad from Mumbai are certainly not among the frontrunners. Controversial former minister of state for home Ramesh Bagwe (Pune) and Abdul Sattar (Aurangabad) could also be shown the door.

But the list of probables, which includes many first-time MLAs, runs long. Former education minister Vasant Purke could stage a comeback. The generation next candidates in the race are Yashomati Thakur (Tevasa), Nilesh Parvekar (Yavatmal) and Prashant Thakur (Panvel).

From the Marathwada region, first-time MLA Amit Deshmukh, who is the son of Union heavy industries minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, is also being discussed.