Sena unhappy over ministry allocation

Geete keeps away from taking charge as heavy industries minister

Barely 20 hours after the Narendra Modi-led government was sworn in, it was faced with a crisis of sorts. Shiv Sena, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s 20-year-old electoral ally, expressed displeasure over allocation of the heavy industries and public enterprises ministry to its lone minister, Anant Geete. The six-time MP, sworn in at a glittering function on Monday evening, kept away from taking charge of the ministry on Tuesday.

When contacted by Business Standard, Geete said he would take some time to take charge. It is expected he will assume charge on Wednesday, after a go-ahead from Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, who might take up the party’s dissatisfaction with BJP chief Rajnath Singh.

This is the third time the Shiv Sena has been allocated the low-key ministry of heavy industries & public enterprises. The party is also annoyed it hasn’t been given another Cabinet post, as well as two posts of ministers of state. Now, the party is hoping Modi will accommodate more party MPs during the ensuing Cabinet expansion, expected after four-five weeks.

During the term of the Atal Behari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance government, veteran Shiv Sena leader and former Maharashtra chief minister Manohar Joshi, and cooperative sector stalwart Balasaheb Vikhe-Patil had held charge of the ministry of heavy industries & public enterprises.

On condition of anonymity, a senior Shiv Sena leader said, “Uddhav has already told Rajnath Singh he has full faith in him. But it is quite disappointing that despite mutual understanding and lack of any specific demand, the lacklustre ministry of heavy industries and public enterprises, the parent ministry of loss-making units, has been allocated to Shiv Sena. The BJP will have to rethink, as it cannot sideline the Shiv Sena, which has won 18 Lok Sabha seats, ahead of the ensuing elections to the 288-member Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.”

The Sena leader recalled earlier, former party chief, the late Bal Thackeray, had also expressed displeasure over the allocation of ministries. He was, however, pacified, following Vajpayee’s intervention in the matter.