MUMBAI: In one of the last cabinet meetings ahead of the announcement of the assembly polls, deputy CM Ajit Pawar, who holds the finance portfolio, was present for only around 10 minutes and left immediately after tribute was paid to Ratan Tata Thursday.
Thirty-eight decisions-many of them having major financial implications- were taken in the two and a half hours that the meeting continued after he left, reports Chaitanya Marpakwar.
Insiders said it’s possible he was unhappy with the state of affairs and the high number of urgent proposals being brought before the cabinet meeting at the last minute without prior circular. Over the past few weeks, the finance department headed by him has raised objections to several proposals moved in the cabinet.
While he could not be reached for a comment despite repeated attempts, NCP state unit chief and MP Sunil Tatkare said there was no question of any friction in Mahayuti.
Nothing should be read into anyone leaving cabinet meet early: Tatkare
Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, who holds the finance portfolio, was missing when several decisions with major financial implications were taken by the state cabinet Thursday at a time when the assembly election is round the corner, officials who attended the meeting said.
CM Eknath Shinde presided over the meeting, and DCM Devendra Fadnavis was with him all the time.
NCP MP S unil Tatkare said, “I was in Raigad and don’t know what happened in the cabinet. But there is no question of any friction in the Mahayuti, and nothing should be read into anyone leaving the cabinet early if that has happened at all.”
The state has already come under criticism for a slew of pre-election sops costing Rs 96,000 crore announced in the budget, including the Ladki Bahin scheme. The expenditure on the Ladki Bahin scheme on its own is slated to be Rs 46,000 crore per year.
The state is a lso on a spree of clearing land allotments, subsidies and guarantees in the run-up to the polls. The finance department has already warned that the fiscal deficit could be as high as Rs 2 lakh crore for 2024-25.
The department warned that the fiscal deficit had crossed 3% of the GSDP, the limit set by the Maharashtra Fiscal Responsibility and Budgetary Management Act.
Insiders said it was possible Pawar was unhappy with the state of affairs. “Ajit Pawar attended the cabinet for only around 10 minutes and left immediately after the tribute was paid to Ratan Tata. He was not there for the rest of the meeting that lasted over two hours and where several decisions were taken. This is probably the first time that Ajit Pawar has left the cabinet like this. The exact reason is not known, but this is uncommon. Ajit Pawar’s chair was vacant throughout the m eeting,” an official said.
Over the last few weeks, fault lines have emerged between Mahayuti partners Shiv Sena and NCP. Recently, CM Shinde’s supporters from Baramati covered Pawar’s cutouts with a black cloth. They claimed that they were upset about Pawar not turning up for a Ganeshotsav event organised by Shinde’s supporters in Baramati. Tempers ran high after Pawar’s supporters objected to their action and the police detained some people to avoid any escalation.
In another incident, Fadnavis attributed the low vote transfer from NCP as one of the main reasons for the BJP’s drop in performance in the Lok Sabha election in the state.
When the cabinet recently cleared financial assistance to major infrastructure projects like the Thane-Borivli tunnel and the Orange Gate-Marine Drive tunnel, it overruled serious concerns raised by the finance department about the state’s precarious financial condition.
