NEW DELHI: In a significant development, the Eknath Shinde faction of Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party have announced to contest all future elections in alliance even as a deadlock over the expansion of Maharashtra Cabinet continues.
The announcement was made following Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis’ meeting with Union home minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Sunday night.
In a tweet, Shinde stated, “Yesterday, Sunday night, I and the Deputy Chief Minister @Dev_Fadnavis met the Union Home and Cooperation Minister @AmitShah in Delhi. We discussed various matters related to agriculture, cooperative department, and the ongoing development work in the state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always guided us, and our alliance for the development of Maharashtra is strong.”
“We will contest elections together in the future and continue the race of development to make Maharashtra the number one state in the country,” he announced.
ALSO READ: Delhi CM Kejriwal gets NCP support for opposing centre’s ordinance
However, there is no agreement between the two parties over the long-pending expansion of the Maharashtra Cabinet. The meeting, which lasted for two hours, cames amidst speculations about the state Cabinet expansion.
Sources suggest that even after the Supreme Court’s verdict in favor of Eknath Shinde’s camp, no progress has been made in the Cabinet expansion as the two alliance partners continue to discuss distribution of ministries and portfolios.
Fadnavis, who has earlier served as the Maharashtra chief minister, recently expressed optimism, saying, “The expansion of the Maharashtra cabinet will take place soon.” However, the timeline for the expansion remains uncertain.”
ALSO READ: Nitish meets Uddhav, Pawar in Mumbai for anti-Modi coalition
It has been nearly a year since Shinde and Fadnavis were sworn in as chief minister and deputy chief minister, respectively. Only 18 ministers have been inducted so far, while the total number can go up to 43. Currently, the government functions with only 20 members, all of whom hold Cabinet rank. Fadnavis and Shinde themselves handle multiple crucial portfolios.
Apart from the Cabinet expansion, Sunday’s discussion also touched upon the seat-sharing formula for the upcoming Lok Sabha and BMC polls.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:
