Of the 10 Congress leaders who took oath as Ministers in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government on Monday, the party has not given any cabinet representation for Pune, while inducting only two among them as Ministers of State from western Maharashtra.
While MLC Satej ‘Bunty’ Patil (from Kolhapur) and MLA Vishwajeet Kadam (from Sangli) were sworn-in as Ministers of State, the lack of representation from Pune has sparked an undercurrent of disappointment.
Even as the swearing-in ceremony was on in Mumbai, Congress workers and supporters of Sangram Thopate, MLA from Bhor (in Pune district), burnt flex boards and expressed their ire against the party top brass for not giving the three-time MLA a Cabinet berth despite his family being firm Congress loyalists for decades.
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At least 20 councillors from the Bhor Municipal Council have threatened to resign over the alleged ‘injustice’ to the Thopate family.
Mr. Thopate is the son of veteran Congressman Anantrao Thopate, a prominent leader in Pune district during the heydays of the party.
“Anantrao Thopate was elected as MLA twice while Sangram Thopate has won from Bhor thrice. Between them they have 25 years of experience as elected representatives. Sangram Thopate even withstood the so-called Modi wave in the 2014 Assembly elections to retain his seat. Despite this they have not been rewarded by the party high command,” said a supporter of Mr. Thopate.
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Yet another councillor from Bhor and a supporter of Mr. Thopate said it was a great injustice that people who had worked against the party’s interests had been inducted in the Cabinet while loyalists had not been given their due.
A number of leaders within the Pune Congress were hoping that a ministerial berth for Mr. Thopate could well turn the Congress’ fortunes in Pune district, which have plummeted since the political twilight of senior Congressman Suresh Kalmadi.
Likewise, Solapur district too went unrepresented with the party denying a ministerial position to Praniti Shinde, daughter of veteran Congressman Sushilkumar Shinde, who won a humdinger of a contest to retain the Solapur City Central Assembly seat for the third consecutive time.
“The Congress cabinet is a judicious mix of all sections and classes. Given that the Congress’s best performance was in Vidarbha, it was but natural that three of the eight cabinet berths were given to MLAs from that region. While there is some disappointment that Pune has not been represented, we fervently hope that MLCs are sent from this region in April next year,” said Pune City Congress general secretary Ramesh Iyer.
In contrast, the Nationalist Congress Party has sent six ministers from western Maharashtra, with five of them securing cabinet berths.
Three ministers are from Pune district: stalwarts Ajit Pawar, the Deputy Chief Minister and former Assembly speaker Dilip Walse-Patil, and first-timer Dattatray Bharne, who was made a Minister of State. Mr. Bharne had defeated his bete noire Harshawardhan Patil to retain the crucial Indapur segment for the second time.
According to observers, the NCP’s weightage to western Maharashtra means that the party is seriously attempting to reclaim ground lost to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in their traditional bastions in the State’s ‘sugar heartland’.
“With six ministerial positions in this region, the NCP will aim to strengthen its party structures hitherto dented by the BJP’s onslaught since 2014. It will also hold the party in good stead in the upcoming civic and municipal polls. In contrast, the Congress lacks a strong leader to boost their fortunes in this region,” said an analyst.
Meanwhile, senior Congressman and former chief minister’s Prithviraj Chavan’s exclusion has raised hopes among his supporters of him being appointed he new Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) chief.
Given Mr. Chavan’s clean image, impressive knowledge on a range of issues and long experience in a variety of top posts, they feel that under his leadership the party might be able to strengthen itself at the organisational level.