What's cooking in Maharashtra?

Politics in Maharashtra has become interesting in recent weeks. In a signed article in the Shiv Sena mouthpiece “Saamana” on Sunday, party Lok Sabha member Sanjay Raut claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had offered a cabinet berth to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule (pictured). Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as well as NCP rejected the claim. But there have been much speculation of NCP joining the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in New Delhi. Two of its legislators voted for BJP in the Rajya Sabha polls in Gujarat against Congress’s Ahmed Patel. A party leader and former union minister is said to be in touch with the BJP leadership. Raut claimed that Pawar himself had told him sometime back about the offer from the PM, but Sule said she would be the last person to join the Modi-led cabinet. Raut also claimed that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is holding secret meetings with NCP leaders. Raut, however, added the Sena, which is an ally in the Fadnavis government, has nothing to worry about.