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The Times of India
The Times of India
National
Chaitanya Marpakwar | TNN

BMC elections at hand, but only 1 Mumbai minister finds place in cabinet expansion

MUMBAI: There is only one minister in the cabinet from Mumbai-BJP MLA and developer Mangal Prabhat Lodha. None from Shinde's group from the city were included. This, despite the BMC elections being scheduled soon. In the previous MVA government, there were seven ministers from the city, including then CM Uddhav Thackeray, an MLC. Rebel Sena MLAs Sada Sarvankar and Prakash Surve were seen as contenders for ministerial berths, but they missed out.

BMC elections at hand, but only 1 Mumbai minister finds place in cabinet expansion

Even with the BMC elections just around the corner, only one minister from Mumbai found place in the first cabinet expansion of the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government on Tuesday. Mangal Prabhat Lodha, the developer and Malabar Hill MLA for BJP, made it; none from Shinde's group from the city were included.

This is the first time in many years there is only one minister from Mumbai, which has 36 assembly seats. No ministers were picked from the suburbs, which account for 26 seats. In the BMC polls, around 70% of the 227 seats are in the suburbs.

In the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, there were seven ministers from the city, including then CM Uddhav Thackeray, an MLC. Congress had picked Aslam Shaikh and Varsha Gaikwad, NCP had Nawab Malik, and Sena anointed Aaditya Thackeray, and MLCs Anil Parab and Subhash Desai.

"Conventionally, Mumbai ministers are sworn in from Gujarati, north Indian and Marathi communities to strike a balance and the suburbs are favoured. With the BMC elections a few months away, it was expected more Mumbai faces would be given a chance. They may be included in the next round but it seems unlikely that there will be an expansion before the BMC polls," said a political observer.

Rebel Shiv Sena MLAs from the city Sada Sarvankar and Prakash Surve were seen as contenders for ministerial berths, but they missed out on Tuesday.

"Even in the Sena-BJP government, there were 6-7 ministers from Mumbai. If not MLAs, it was expected senior MLCs like Praveen Darekar, opposition leader in the council, would be inducted since he is from the western suburbs. For BJP, the north Indian and Gujarati voters are a key factor and they were expected to be represented," added the political observer. Lodha's elevation raised eyebrows as BJP had already made Colaba MLA Rahul Narwekar the speaker.

"The stepmotherly treatment to Mumbai is obvious. Must feel for those who missed out despite betraying Shiv Sena only to become mantris...," Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi tweeted.

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