In the much-awaited ministerial expansion, Uddhav Thackeray, the chief minister of Maharashtra, has inducted 35 other legislators, apart from 6 others who were inducted in the cabinet when the chief minister took oath. This takes the total number of ministers in the state to 43- the maximum number of ministers the state can have, as per the constitution.
The newly inducted ministers include Ajit Pawar, the nephew of Sharad Pawar, who broke the ranks with the party to make a government with BJP, and 29-year-old Aaditya Thackeray, who won from Worli constituency.
Pawar took oath as Deputy Chief Minister of the state, while the portfolio allocation of 34 other legislators is yet to be decided. As per the media reports, Aaditya Thackeray might be given education or environment minister, otherwise he will be inducted as a minister to chief minister’s office (CMO), which will help him to understand the functioning of whole government.
Uddhav Thackeray is grooming Aaditya to take over the role to chief minister in the future. Aaditya was first member of the Thackeray family to contest an election, and second to hold a government post. Bal Thackery, the Shiv Sena patriarch, never held a government post, despite steering the party to corridors of power many times.
By inducting Aaditya Thackeray in the cabinet, it seems, the Thackeray family has learnt from the mistakes of Nehru Gandhi family. Rahul Gandhi, the heir apparent of the party, joined active politics back in 2004. He was elected from the family bastion-Amethi- in the Lok Sabha but stayed away from the ministerial posts. In 2009, the Congress party came to power with an even larger number of seats, and his efforts in the state of Uttar Pradesh, where the party won 22 seats, was much appreciated.
Rahul Gandhi revived the moribund Congress fortunes in the state of Uttar Pradesh. If Rahul Gandhi had wished, or he had the hunger for power, he could have joined the Manmohan Singh cabinet as a minister of any of four important portfolios, that is, home, External affairs, finance, and defence. But, he stayed away from taking any responsibility.
Even if Rahul Gandhi had claimed the Prime Minister’s post, dethroning the then PM Manmohan Singh, no one, at least in Congress party, was going to oppose him. His mother was the de facto Prime Minister, and he could have taken the de jure position very easily.
But, Rahul Gandhi stayed away from taking any responsibility in the 10 years his party was in power. He is seen as ‘reluctant politician’, who is doing the job for the heck of it, and therefore no one is ready to vote for him. In the state election, where he is not contender the top post, the voters are ready to elect Congress party, but in the general elections, where he is the face of the party and a direct contestant against PM Modi, his party had not won even 10 per cent of the total seats in 2014 as well as 2019.
As Rahul Gandhi is ‘reluctant’ to hold the position of responsibility, the voters are not ready to give him the same. Therefore, Shiv Sena had learnt from the mistakes of Rahul Gandhi, and the party chief- Uddhav Thackeray- had decided to induct Aaditya in the cabinet.
Lalu Yadav, the RJD supremo, had also done the same in past, and appointed his son as Deputy Chief Minister of the state. It is evident that the regional satraps have learnt from the mistakes of Nehru Gandhi family and Rahul Gandhi, and therefore they have inducted the scions from an early age.
The 29-year-old Aditya Thackeray, educated at Bombay Scottish School, completed graduation from St. Xavier’s College in History and did a law course from KC College, all in Mumbai. He became the first member of the Thackeray family to contest election and was elected from the Worli constituency. Now taking cue from the mistake of Rahul Gandhi, he has thrown himself in the position of power and responsibility.