Ajit Pawar, others meet Fadnavis, not Shinde, over portfolios

A day after joining the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Monday met his counterpart Devendra Fadnavis to discuss allocation of cabinet portfolios and legal aspects pertaining to the new alliance, sources said.

Nationalist Congress Party leaders Sunil Tatkare, Praful Patel and Chhagan Bhujbal were also present in the meeting held at 'Meghdoot' bungalow, the official residence of Deputy CM and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Fadnavis, they said.

The meeting lasted for about an hour.

On Sunday, Ajit Pawar led a vertical split in the NCP to become the deputy chief minister. Eight other NCP leaders were also sworn in as ministers in the Eknath Shinde-BJP government.

”The meeting was about distribution of portfolios. The leaders also discussed legal aspects and impending challenges before this new alliance,” a source close to Ajit Pawar said.

”The allocation of portfolios would be finalised by Tuesday evening,” the source said.

In the past, Ajit Pawar held portfolios such as water resources department, power and finance.

Currently, all the three portfolios are with Fadnavis, who also holds charge of the state home department.

The next state cabinet meeting is likely to be held on Wednesday.