mumbai

Updated: Dec 06, 2019 14:56 IST

The Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government is taking its steps well and there is no need to hurry about allocating cabinet portfolios, the Shiv Sena on Friday defended the BJP’s criticism over the delay in handling charges to the ministers.

The Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress came together to form the MVA government, which took office at the end of November, more than a month after the declaration of the result of assembly election on October 24.

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s leader Ashish Shelar on Thursday pulled up the Maharashtra government led by Sena boss Uddhav Thackeray for failing to allocate portfolios to its ministers even after a week of being sworn in.

“The Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government made promises to Independents at the time of government formation, but eight days after the swearing-in ceremony, not a single ministerial portfolio has been allocated,” Shelar said in a statement.

The Sena, in an editorial in the party’s mouthpiece Saamana, handled the BJP’s question by saying the government knows its job.

“The government has the ability to run the affairs of Maharashtra peacefully. The ministers are without portfolios not without heads. The Nagpur session is crucial and it will go through well,” the editorial said.

“The cabinet will be expanded and portfolios will also be distributed. The government of Maharashtra will stridently move forward; we do not have any such doubt. Why should there be haste needlessly? Uddhav Thackeray wants to run the government for five years and not for 80 days,” it said.

It added that the Thackeray government does not have the “haste to carry out haphazard work”.

The editorial further defended the government and said, “The swearing-in has happened and till now cabinet decisions have been taken in public interest.”

The Sena-led government has not been able to finalise portfolios that are to be shared between them. The Shiv Sena is said to be pressing for home and urban development departments and the NCP is also eyeing the home department for itself.

The editorial also remarked over newspaper reports that former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis was “homeless” and was “hunting” for a home in Mumbai. It said that the government has given the BJP leader a bungalow that is generally allotted to a cabinet minister.

Fadnavis, who is now the leader of opposition, was recently allocated ‘Sagar’ bungalow in Malabar Hill.

“So far, no opposition leader has not got such a big bungalow that he desired,” the editorial said.