On November 29, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray formally took charge of his office at Maharashtra secretariat on Friday afternoon. Uddhav has always been a reluctant politician. But running the government and handling a coalition of three parties is a big task. So, Shiv Sena chief will now have a five-member team to assist him.
According to the Hindustan Times, the team includes two key Sena leaders, Subhash Desai and Eknath Shinde; party youth wing chief Aaditya Thackeray; party MP Sanjay Raut; and his secretary, Milind Narvekar. As we all know Desai and Shinde have been sworn in as ministers along with Thackeray, while on the other hand Narvekar has been appointed as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the CM’s office (CMO). And Aaditya is expected to bring fresh ideas and a new outlook to the party’s policies.
A close aide of Thackeray told the Hindustan Times, Subhash Desai's role will be to guide the CM on issues related to governance and policy-making. He also expected to attend various official conferences and interact with different delegations on behalf of Thackeray. While Eknath Shinde will be handling floor management during the sessions of the legislature.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government of the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance passed the floor test in the Maharashtra Assembly on Saturday. Altogether 169 MLAs voted in favour of the motion of confidence after the BJP, which has 105 MLAs, staged a walkout before the headcount began in the 288-member House.
Pro tem Speaker Dilip Walse Patil informed the House that four MLAs abstained during the vote. They include two from the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), one from CPI(M) and a member of the MNS, led by Uddhav's estranged cousin Raj Thackeray.
Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray was on Thursday sworn in Maharashtra chief minister, heading an unlikely alliance, 'Maha Vikas Aghadi', with the Congress and NCP. The 59-year-old is the third Sena leader and first from the Thackeray family to occupy the post. His father Bal Thackeray wielded the 'remote control' over the first Sena-BJP government during 1995-99 but never assumed a position in the government.
