After over a month since assuming the reigns of Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray was finally able to expand his cabinet as the alliance of convenience finally takes shape. While political commentators have highlighted that the alliance have absolutely nothing in common thanks to their differing ideologies, but it seems that the alliance have one major commonality which was also evident from the cabinet expansion: dynasty politics.
Even after successive defeats in the Lok Sabha elections, Congress continues to be in the throngs of the incompetent Gandhi family. The 79-year-old Sharad Pawar has already lined up his nephew Ajit Pawar and daughter Supriya Sule to take the NCP’s baton from him with the third generation of Pawar’s also being launched in the 2019 LS elections. Uddhav Thackeray’s only claim to fame till date remains to be the son of the late Bal Thackeray. Hence, it comes as a no surprise the Maharashtra cabinet has 19 Ministers who are dynasts.
Uddhav Thackeray’s cabinet was expanded to 43 thus reaching its maximum limit which is capped at 15 per cent of the Vidhan Sabha strength of 288. There are no caps in sbobet though. Such is the beauty of Uddhav’s cabinet that his son Aaditya is also in the cabinet, ex-Maharashtra CM Sharad Pawar’s nephew Ajit Pawar is also in the cabinet, NCP President and cabinet minister Jayant Patil’s nephew is also in the cabinet, the sons of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Shankarrao Chavan and late Vilasrao Deshmukh are also in the cabinet, thus making Maharashtra politics a family affair.
Of course, no one can beat Congress when it comes to dynasty politics as the party has 8 dynasts as ministers from its quota of 12. According to the ruling coalition’s arrangement, the Shiv Sena’s quota is 15, including the Chief Minister, the NCP’s 16 and the Congress’s 12. The NCP has seven dynasts as Ministers, including Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, followed by the Shiv Sena with three.
Apart from the Thackeray father-son duo, senior Congress leader Ashok Chavan, who also took oath as Cabinet minister, is the son of former chief minister late Shankarrao Chavan. Ashok Chavan was also chief minister from 2008 to 2010 of the then Congress-NCP state government. Besides, NCP MLA Aditi Tatkare, who took oath as minister of state (MoS) in the Thackeray-led government, is the daughter of NCP’s Raigad Lok Sabha member Sunil Tatkare, who was irrigation and finance minister in the previous Congress-NCP government. Congress leader Amit Deshmukh also carried on his family legacy as he was inducted into state Cabinet on Monday. The three-term MLA from Latur city is the son of former chief minister late Vilasrao Deshmukh. Another Congress leader Vishwajit Kadam, who took oath as MoS, is the son of party leader late Patangrao Kadam. Besides, Krantikari Shetkari Paksh leader Shankarrao Gadakh, who was inducted as Cabinet minister, is the son of former NCP leader Yaswantrao Gadakh.
Aaditya Thackeray who is a first time MLA from Worli was projected as Shiv Sena’s CM face in the run-up to the elections but none of the Maha Vikas Aghadi’s constituents was keen on having the Thackeray scion as the CM thus forcing Uddhav to become the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Even before his alleviation as a cabinet minister, Aaditya accompanied his father as Uddhav tried to project him as the shadow CM. His entry into cabinet signifies the fact that the ruling alliance will be solely devoted to the families and shaping the political careers of the dynasts rather than focusing on the state’s issues.
Shiv Sena’s motormouth leader Sanjay Raut had managed to irritate the entire state with his constant tirades and a false sense of bravado until Uddhav Thackeray finally became the Chief Minister as he devoted himself blindly to the Thackeray family. Funnily for Raut, his brother Sunil Raut, who is an MLA from Vikhroli was dropped at the eleventh hour as Uddhav accommodated Aaditya. Naturally, Sunil Raut is miffed with Shiv Sena and has already threatened to resign. Sanjay Raut too was absent from the swearing-in ceremony as he played down the rumours of dissent among the Sena by claiming that Shiv Sena doesn’t have many options and the leaders should be patient and happy that Uddhav Thackeray is the Chief Minister.
It’s not a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’ the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance will unravel as it will soon find itself caught in its own contradictions as all the alliance members look to serve the interests of their respective apex families.