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Journalism of Courage
A DAY before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar’s pocketborough of Baramati, ties between the BJP and ally Shiv Sena hit a fresh low.
Minister of State (MoS) Sanjay Rathod, who is from the Sena, Friday termed the power-sharing deal in Maharashtra a farce and cast aspersions on Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and senior BJP minister Eknath Khadse.
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Seething at allegedly being sidelined in the government, Rathod opted to make public a five-page letter he had sent in this regard to Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray.
Alleging that Sena ministers in the state government were being accorded a “step motherly treatment” and were “not being taken into confidence on crucial government matters, including appointments and transfers”, Rathod’s letter claims this was being done deliberately to malign the Sena’s image among the masses.
The Sena has five Cabinet ministers and five ministers of state in the Maharashtra government.
Rathod’s letter to Thackeray alleges that powers of portfolios held by the party ministers have been diluted.
The letter also alleges a deliberate move to keep Shiv Sena ministers away from platforms that gained publicity for government decisions.
Rathod, MoS in the Revenue department, has been locked in a fierce battle with his Cabinet Minister Eknath Khadse over distribution of power.
Reacting angrily to Khadse’s charge that the Shiv Sena MoS was keen to handle files on matters under the Anti-Corruption Bureau lens, Rathod questioned Khadse’s own interest in these files, while denying that he had ever sought these files.
Rathod’s letter even took a pot shot at the BJP-led government over its failure on drought relief measures.
“We (The BJP, Shiv Sena) targeted the erstwhile regime over drought relief. Now what different are we doing?” Rathod asked.
Shiv Sena leader Anil Desai later said all the issues in the government would be sorted out.
