The Shiv Sena exhibited it was still in a sulk about having been given the heavy industries portfolio by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with its chief Uddhav Thackeray saying the party was keen to handle a ministry directly linked with public welfare.
Talking to mediapersons, Thackeray put on a brave front, denying the Shiv Sena was upset with the portfolio allocation.
He said Anant Geete had accepted the heavy industries ministry as a “challenge“. Thackeray said the Shiv Sena decided to accept the ministry after his telephonic talk with Modi.
“I told Narendrabhai that we would have been happy if we had been given a portfolio which is directly linked with the people of India and their problems,“ he said.
The Shiv Sena is hopeful that it will get at least one more cabinet portfolio and two minister of state berths when Modi undertakes the expansion of his council of ministers, said sources.
The Shiv Sena had thrown a fit after it became clear early this week that Geete would be the lone minister from the party.
Geete's heavy industries portfolio came as yet another blow to the Shiv Sena, which prides itself as the long-time ally of the BJP. An upset Thackeray had at the time asked Geete to stay away from the ministry , which may have heavy in its name but is considered a featherweight portfolio.
Thackeray on Thursday said the Shiv Sena accorded precedence to the demands of the state over those of his party. “The question is not what the Sena got in the allocation of portfolios, the crucial question is what will Maharashtra get,“ he said.
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