After five days of careful political manoeuvring, National Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar installed six new ministers in the Maharashtra Government on Tuesday.
At a simple ceremony held at Raj Bhavan, they were administered the oath of office and secrecy.
Former National Congress Party State president Madhukar Pichad has been made Tribal Affairs Minister with Cabinet rank. Same rank has been given to Labour leader Shashikant Shinde and Dilip Sopal.
Shinde, who has a good grip over the Mathadi workers (daily wage earners) union, has been given responsibility of Water Resources (Krishna Valley Corporation). Dilip Sopal, an independent MLA but a close ally of Pawar would be holding charge of Water Supply and Sanitation.
Uday Samant, Suresh Dhas and Sanjay Savkare, who are emerging leaders in the party have been made Ministers of State (MoS), while Sachin Ahir, who is already a MoS, has been given additional portfolios.
Eye on polls
On the other hand, Pawar has sacked ministers such as Ramraje Nimbalkar, Laxman Dhoble, Bhaskar Jadhav, Gulabrao Deokar, Babanrao Pachpute and Prakash Solankhe.
Veteran Political Analyst Nagesh Kesari said Pawar has carried out this reshuffle keeping in mind the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, and balanced factors like caste and regional aspirations. .
“Pawar’s style of functioning has the imprint of Y. B. Chavan; therefore, those ministers who have been dropped from the Government would eventually be accommodated in some position of power,” Kesari said.
He observed that Pawar wants to set the course right for the tribal welfare ministry so that the problems of tribals could be solved urgently.
rahul.wadke@thehindu.co.in