The performance of ministers of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in the State government will be monitored directly by party president Sharad Pawar through periodic meetings.
The first of these meetings will be held on Wednesday. Apart from guiding the ministers on their administrative duties, Mr. Pawar is also likely to discuss with them how to handle politically sensitive matters.
With the NCP getting the lion’s share in the Cabinet and key portfolios like Home, Finance, Rural Development and Cooperation, the party leadership sees this as an opportunity to expand its base in areas other than western Maharashtra and Marathwada.
The NCP has not been able to make inroads in Vidarbha, north Maharashtra and urban areas such as Mumbai. The three-party Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance has now given it an opportunity to cement its organisation in these areas.
Mumbai NCP chief and Minority Development Minister Nawab Malik told The Hindu that Mr. Pawar used to interact with the party’s ministers earlier too. “This is his method of working — taking feedback and guiding the junior ministers. He will be talking to us about priorities of the government and how priorities of the work need to be fixed,” he said.
Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad said the meeting is to provide guidance to the ministers. “This is the first meeting and Pawar saheb is likely to take such review meetings at regular intervals,” he said.
Mr. Pawar has already called three senior ministers — Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, Labour and State Excise Minister Dilip Walse-Patil and Mr. Malik — to Pune after the portfolio distribution and discussed the functioning of their respective departments.
