The political tug of war over controlling the 36 districts across the state ended with the BJP ministers appointed district guardian ministers for 19 districts, Shiv Sena getting 10 and the NCP eight.
The charge for the district of Mumbai City has been given to Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde when the BJP was keen on it. Shinde has also kept Thane – his home district for him. Both Mumbai and Thane will go for the crucial municipal corporation elections soon.
The state government has created the position of the co-guardian minister for the districts of Mumbai Suburban, Kolhapur, Gadchiroli. It is being done for the first time.
The Shiv Sena has also got the responsibility for Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar when the BJP was keen on it. Nagpur, the home district of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, will have BJP’s Chandrashekhar Bawankule as the district guardian minister. He will also be in charge of neighbouring Amravati district as well.
Forest Minister Ganesh Naik (BJP) has been given responsibility for Palghar and the Shiv Sena has appointed Prakash Abitkar as the guardian minister for Kolhapur where the BJP has appointed Madhuri Misal as the co-guardian minister. The Sena’s Minister of State Ashish Jaiswal will be the co-guardian minister for Gadchiroli.
Nitesh Rane will be the guardian minister for Sindhudurg.
Now the eyes will be on the Sena minister Bharat Gogawale who has been constantly demanding the responsibility for Raigad district where the NCP has got its minister Aditi Tatkare for the job. The Sena has succeeded in Satara where its minister Shambhuraj Desai has been appointed ignoring two BJP ministers – Shivendra Raje Bhosale and Jaykumar Gore.
