Mumbai: BJP president Amit Shah has asked Maharashtra BJP ministers and party leaders to work together with better coordination to avoid differences on policy matters.
A BJP minister told Firstpost that Shah's remarks hold significance as they come amid moves by Maharashtra state ministers to target chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. “Shah has asked the ministers and party leaders to work like a team. His emphasis was on better coordination between the government and party to avoid controversies by giving unnecessary controversies on several policy issues,” the minister said, requesting not to be named.
The BJP president was in Mumbai on Friday to take stock of the party’s national membership drive with the state BJP leadership. But there have been a number of incidents that indicate that all is not well within Maharashtra's new government, which have clearly prompted Shah to intervene.
Recently, Maharashtra's Minister of State for Home Ram Shinde had said that he had asked police to probe the contents of Aamir Khan starrer PK. Subsequently, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had to clarify that there would be no inquiry as the censor board had already cleared the film.
PTI
Congress then slammed Fadnavis for a 'lack of control' over his council of ministers as well as a 'lack of coordination'.
The new Chief Minister also had to contend with controversial statements from two of his senior cabinet colleagues, Eknath Khadse and Sudhir Mungantiwar, that pointed to differences within the government.
Eknath Khadse, a senior BJP leader and currently state revenue minister, had said people wanted a ‘chief minister from the bahujan community’, in what was seen as a direct taunt to the party leadership which appointed Devendra Fadnavis, who hails from the Brahmin community. Khadse was also involved in another controversy when he asked why farmers could not clear their power dues if they could pay their mobile bills.
Meanwhile Finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar proposed a ‘white paper’ on the state’s financial situation, forcing Fadnavis to clarify that his government would bring out a ‘status report’ instead of a white paper on the issue.
Political observers say that the controversial statements made by the BJP ministers have caused huge embarrassment to the party and have added that the fact that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had to clarify on the statements exposing the differences among the ministers on policy matters is not a good sign.
Observers say that chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has been reduced to a spokesperson, as he has to constantly clarify the government position with regard to controversial statements made by his cabinet colleague.
Party leaders said that it seems that Shah has given a chance to all the ministers considering that many are first-timers. “He seems to have given the benefit of doubt to ministers by asking them to aim for better coordination. We have promised a lot to the people during the election campaign and we will have to deliver. So, we must have better coordination to do that,” said a BJP leader.
He added that Shah also asked ministers not only get involved in ministerial work, and also set aside time for the party.
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