In a move that may strain ties of BJP and Shiv Sena, Maharashtra environment minister and senior Sena leader Ramdas Kadam has demanded the Home portfolio, currently held by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to "send corrupt ministers of previous governments to jail".
"During the elections as well I had stated that I should be given the charge of the Home portfolio," Kadam told reporters here.
"I am asking for this portfolio because all those people from the previous government, who, while sitting on ministers' chairs, who had indulged in corruption, need to be sent to jail. I once again demand the Home portfolio," he added.
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Shiv Sena, in a recent editorial in its mouthpiece 'Saamana' had taken a dig at Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and said that contrary to perceptions about him being a "part-time home minister", he was actually an 'over-time home minister'.
The Congress took the opportunity to take a jibe at the BJP and said Kadam's statements prove that the party's own ally does not trust it.
"The Shiv Sena calls itself the oldest ally of the BJP, a party that had come to power with a promise of sending the corrupt people to jail. On one hand, the BJP says no corrupt person will be spared and on the other hand the Sena asks for the Home portfolio to send corrupt ministers of the previous regime to jail," Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson Nasser Zakaria said.
"If both parties have no trust on each other, how will they run the government? The Sena should immediately come out of the government if it does not trust the BJP on crucial matters," Zakaria said.
