Senior Shiv Sena minister Sanjay Shirsat has created controversy and trouble for party leader and Maharashtra Deputy CM Eknath Shinde once again.
The controversy stems from his recent remarks of several NCP MLAs allegedly being in touch with his party, which has not gone down well with the NCP.
In fact, senior NCP minister Hasan Mushriff raised this issue with senior Sena ministers Dada Bhuse and Uday Samant, informing them that Shirsat's remarks were causing ill will among the alliance partners. Mushriff also said that NCP ministers would meet Deputy CM Shinde to raise the issue.
Shirsat was scolded by his party leadership after his remarks, and urged to avoid making any claims or statements that could hurt the Mahayuti alliance parties.
This comes just days after Shirsat created a stir by stating that the Shiv Sena and the BJP would fight the 2029 elections on their own. This remark raised many eyebrows, as it conveyed a signal that all was not well within alliance partners.
What soon followed were his remarks on the Sunetra Pawar-led NCP. He claimed that people leaving the party has increased amid confusion about who was the leader—Sunetra Pawar or Sharad Pawar.
Meanwhile, the Rajya Sabha seat vacated by Sunetra Pawar is up for the polls soon. The NCP is thinking of nominating a senior leader from the state instead of an outsider.
While senior minister Chhagan Bhujbal has expressed an interest in a Rajya Sabha post, it remains to be seen whether the decision-makers in the NCP—Parth Pawar and Jai Pawar included—agree to this. Other names doing the rounds are that of Avinash Adik and Pramod Hindurao.
