Maharashtra: Shinde-Fadnavis' Unscheduled Delhi Tour Raises Doubts

An unscheduled Delhi tour of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shine and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis led to speculation in the state politics on Wednesday. Whether the tour was in connection with the resumed hunger strike of Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange-Patil or was it related to the already dealyed cabinet expansion and pending political appointments on state-owned corporations remained unanswered so was the mistery over other DCM Ajit Pawar's skipping the tour.

Prime minister Narendra Modi is acheduled to visit Shirdi in Maharashtra on Thursday to dedicate a few developemnt projects conceived by his government. Also, Speaker of Maharashtra assembly Adv Rahul Narvekar is scheduled to hear petitions for disqualification of MLAs on Thursday, where he will be hearing 34 petitions in Six bunches - a feat closer to Shiv Sena (UBT)'s demand to club all petitions to expedite the hearing. However, it still remains a mistory as to whether the CM-DCM's sudden Delhi tour has any connection with any or all of these developments.

The Shinde-Fadnavis duo is scheduled to be meet union home minister Amit Shah during the Delhi tour, sources said. Also, senior NCP leader Praful Patel said that some political deliberations and decisions relqted to the three parties in power in the state were pending. He also mentioned the cabinet expansion in the list of pending things. Hence, it can be believed that the sudden Delhi tour of the CM and the DCM is likely to be about the possible expansion of state as well as the union cabinet.

When asked about Maratha reservation, Patel said that no political party is opposed to granting reservation to the Martha community and hence 'how' to do so is the only question that remains to be answered. Reservation cannbe given immediately, but whether it will last the legal scrutiny is a question, he said. He didn't comment on possibility of this issue being at the centre stage of the CM-DCM's Delhi tour.