The Shiv Sena, led by Maharashtra party chief Eknath Shinde, on Friday reiterated that its leader has sought the crucial home portfolio from the BJP, adding that the three Mahayuti allies are in talks over the allocation of portfolios. The Mahayuti, comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party, registered a clear win in last month’s assembly elections.
On Thursday, 12 days after the results, BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis took oath as chief minister along with Eknath Shinde and Pawar and their supporters. “When Fadnavis was the chief minister (in the previous Shinde-led government), he had the home portfolio. Now, Saheb has also requested the same and talks (on portfolio allocation) are on,” Gogavale was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. “The request has probably been made to Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Union Home Minister Amit Shah. We hope that talks on portfolios will be completed in the next two days,” the Raigad MLA said. According to the report, Shinde was “reluctant” to accept the deputy CM post, but Sena leaders convinced him to take the job. In any case, he is firm about the domestic office, to which the state police reports. In June 2022, the Maratha strongman from Thane revolted against then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, the head of the united Shiv Sena. This fueled a vertical split in the party and activated the fall of the Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.