Don’t know about any reshuffle, says Mehta

MUMBAI: Housing minister Prakash Mehta may be dropped in the first reshuffle of the state cabinet that chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is all set to carry out in the last week of April. A few other ministers too are likely to be sacked and four new faces inducted, a senior BJP minister said.Fadnavis was in New Delhi on Monday to discuss the reshuffle, sources said. In view of the ongoing state Lokayukta probe into charges of irregularities and abuse of power against Mehta, the view in the BJP is that he should be ousted from the cabinet before the Lokayukta submits his report to the governor, the cabinet minister who spoke to TOI said.Apart from the reshuffle, Fadnavis will make much-delayed appointments to staterun boards and corporations as there is discontent among party workers about the key posts lying vacant, the BJP minister said.TOI had on July 12 last year reported how Mehta had illegally cleared a slum redevelopment scheme proposal in Tardeo’s MP Mill compound in violation of Development Control rules. He allowed extra building rights granted to slumdwellers to be transferred to a scheme for the projectaffected, resulting in huge benefits to the developer.Fadnavis had proposed a reshuffle several times since he took over as CM in October 2014 but was unable to carry out the rejig as he was busy with elections to civic corporations, councils and zilla parishads, the minister said. The exercise was again delayed following the row over the induction of Narayan Rane in the cabinet.“Now that Rane has been nominated to the Rajya Sabha and general elections are due next year, it is felt that the time is appropriate. Following the BJP high command’s approval, the CM intends to do the reshuffle in the last week of April,” he said.Mehta had initially claimed that the SRA proposal had the approval of the CM, but after Fadnavis denied having seen the proposal, the housing minister quickly backtracked on his statement.Mehta told TOI on Monday, “I have no information on my likely dismissal from the cabinet. I have no knowledge of the possible reshuffle. When there were reports on the row over redevelopment of the slum in the MP Mill compound and my name was mentioned, I had myself offered to quit and had told the CM accordingly. The CM had then said there was no need for me to quit, so I am there in the cabinet.”The Lokayukta, Justice M L Tahaliyani, is currently recording statements of senior officials of the housing department. It is expected that in the days to come, Mehta would be summoned before the Lokayukta to record his statement.TOI’s reports had found an echo in both houses of the state legislature, with ex-CM Prithviraj Chavan and NCP’s Ajit Pawar demanding Mehta’s resignation. Chavan had asked why Mehta continued as minister though charges against him were bigger than those against BJP’s Eknath Khadse, who was sacked for his alleged role in the MIDC land scam.