The challenges of running a coalition government have been brought to the fore by a clash between the BJP and its Maharashtra allies, the Shiv Sena unit led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's NCPfaction.
BJP emerged as the single-largest party following India's general elections. While BJP on its own did not have enough seats to touch the majority mark this election, the NDA alliance formed the government with 293 seats.
The Shiv Sena won 7 of the 15 seats it contested in Maharashtra, while Ajit Pawar's NCP bagged one of the four seats out of the total 48 seats. The BJP won nine seats in the state.
Modi 3.0 Cabinet | NCP Rejects BJP's MoS Offer
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) declined the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) offer to appoint party leader Praful Patel as a Minister of State (MoS) with independent charge in the new government formed by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
"Last night we were informed that our party will get a Minister of State with independent charge. I was earlier a Cabinet Minister in the Union Government, so this will be a demotion for me," Patel said on Sunday.
Maharashtra Deputy CM and NCP chief Ajit Pawar said: "Praful Patel has served as a cabinet minister in the central government and we did not feel right in taking Minister of State with independent charge.”
He said the NCP has one Lok Sabha and one Rajya Sabha MP today. "But in the next 2-3 months we will have a total of 3 members in the Rajya Sabha and our number of MPs in Parliament will be four. So we said we should be given one (cabinet ministry) seat," he was quoted by news agency PTI as saying.
"Last night, we were informed that our party will get a Minister of State with independent charge. I was earlier a Cabinet Minister in the Union Government, so this will be a demotion for me. We have informed the BJP leadership and they have already told us to just wait for a few days. They will take remedial measures,"Patel said.
Modi 3.0 Cabinet | Shiv Sena Also Upset
After NCP, the Shiv Sena has expressed disappointment over not getting any Cabinet-level positions in the new National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government led by Prime Minister Modi.
"We were expecting a Cabinet berth," said Shrirang Barne, the chief whip of the Eknath Shinde-led party, citing the proportion of other NDA allies in the new Council of Ministers.
"Chirag Paswan got five MPs, [Jitan Ram] Manjhi got one, JDS got two MPs... yet they received one Cabinet post each. Despite having seven Lok Sabha seats, why did Shiv Sena only receive one Minister of State (MoS) post with independent charge? Shiv Sena is an old ally of BJP. Shiv Sena should have received a Cabinet post at least for that," Barne said.
Modi 3.0 Cabinet | Party-wise breakdown
BJP: 61 ministers
Allies: 11 ministers
Telugu Desam Party: 2
Janata Dal (United): 2
Lok Janshakti Party: 1
Janata Dal (Secular): 1
Shiv Sena: 1
Republican Party of India (Athawale): 1
Rashtriya Lok Dal: 1
Apna Dal: 1
Hindustani Awam Morcha: 1
Total - 72 ministers
