New Delhi: Upset after being denied a Cabinet berth, Shiv Sena's lone Muslim leader Abdul Sattar has reportedly resigned from the Maharashtra government. However, the ruling party rubbished the rumours.
Sattar, who joined the Sena ahead of the Assembly polls, is reportedly unhappy after being given a Minister of State (MoS) portfolio as he wanted a Cabinet berth.
Sattar, a former animal husbandry minister from Sillod in Aurangabad district of Marathwada region, has been a staunch Congress worker. However, he left the party ahead of the Lok Sabha polls after being denied a ticket to fight from Aurangabad.
There were reports of him joining the BJP later when he met former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Finally, Sattar was picked by the Shiv Sena and fielded from Sillod in the Assembly polls. Sattar joined the Sena with all fanfare in presence of party chief Uddhav Thackeray.
But now a Cabinet rank has become the bone of contention between Sattar and the Sena. The turncoat's son, Sameer, said his father will soon clarify on the issue.
Dismissing the rumours of Sattar having resigned, Rajya Sabha MP Anil Desai said that "no resignations will be accepted".
Senior Sena leader Sanjay Raut claimed that no such letter of resignation has reached Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari. Hinting at Sattar's previous political ideologies, Raut said, "He was not with the Sena from beginning. No department is small or insignificant. If anyone thinks so, it is wrong."
Arjun Khotkar, another Sena leader, said there is no question of Sattar tendering his resignation. "These rumours are baseless. Sattar will meet Uddhav Thackeray tomorrow," news agency ANI quoted him as saying.
A total of 36 leaders from the Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress, including Ajit Pawar and Aaditya Thackeray, took oath as ministers in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government on Monday. However, as reports of fissures within the three-party combine began to surface, NCP chief Sharad Pawar clarified that nobody is unhappy over portfolio allocation.
The Thackeray government is reportedly struggling with the issue of portfolio allocation as squabbles within the MVA are yet to be resolved. To make matters worse, internal dissent within the constituents has exposed the fissures in the alliance.
In the Sena, sources said several MLAs are unhappy over "lost opportunities". Bhaskar Jadhav, Pratap Sarnaik, Sunil Raut — Sanjay Raut's brother — Prakash Abitkar, and Tanaji Sawant are among those to have voiced their discontent with losing out on a ministerial post.
Talking about portfolios, a source said that junior Thackeray could be given an easy portfolio like tourism. "The idea is to help him learn the ropes of administration. Giving him a difficult portfolio might make him face big challenges at the nascent stage itself," the source added.
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