Ajit Pawar gets his way again, snags plum Guardian Ministership of Pune district

Govt. appoints Guardian Ministers to 11 districts; Ajit Pawar snags Pune; NCP faction's increasing weight in tripartite alliance; Hasan Mushrif, Dhananjay Munde given Kolhapur, Beed; Chandrakant Patil given Solapur, Amravati; Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil given Akola; Raigad, Nashik districts remain tangled knots; Ajit Pawar-led faction demands Aditi Tatkare, Chhagan Bhujbal for Raigad, Nashik; Shinde camp leaders oppose; intense tussle for plum districts; Supriya Sule slams insensitivity of govt. amid deaths in hospitals.

After months of friction and wrangling, the Eknath Shinde-led government on Wednesday finally appointed Guardian Ministers to 11 districts, with Deputy Chief Minister and rebel Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar snaring the coveted guardianship of Pune district.

The final list of 12 Ministers again underscores the increasing weight of the Mr. Pawar’s faction within the tripartite ruling alliance of Mr. Shinde’s Shiv Sena faction, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the NCP.

The appointments come a day after Mr. Shinde and his other Deputy, Devendra Fadnavis, made a sudden visit to Delhi on Tuesday evening to meet BJP national president J.P. Nadda and Union Home Amit Shah, following speculation that Mr. Pawar was reportedly unhappy with his allies, the Shinde-led Sena and the BJP.

Hasan Mushrif and Dhananjay Munde – two close aides of Mr. Pawar – have also been given plum districts of their choice, being appointed as Guardian Ministers of their respective strongholds of Kolhapur and Beed. Another NCP Minister, Dharmaraobaba Aatram, whose base is in Gadchiroli district, was given the charge of nearby Gondia.

Former BJP State president Chandrakant Patil, who is currently a Minister and MLA from Pune’s Kothrud, was compelled to let go of his previous role as the Guardian Minister of Pune. As ‘consolation’, Mr. Patil has been given charge of two districts – Solapur and Amravati.

Among other notable appointments, senior BJP leader and minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, whose power base is Ahmednagar, was given charge of Akola district in the Vidarbha region instead, hinting at the compromise effected by the BJP to humour Mr. Pawar’s faction.

However, the Guardian Ministerships of Raigad and Nashik districts continue as tangled knots, with the government failing to name ministers for either district as yet. In both places, the Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction has staked a claim, demanding that its leaders Aditi Tatkare, and Chhagan Bhujbal be given charge of Raigad and Nashik respectively. This has been vehemently opposed by Shinde camp leaders, Bharat Gogawale – a bitter political adversary of Ms. Tatkare – and Dada Bhuse, who is against Nashik being handed over to Mr. Bhujbal.