Shrikant Shinde: ‘Unconditional support for Modi govt… no bargaining or negotiation for power going on’

Amid some discordant notes among BJP allies over allocations in the Union Council of Ministers, the Shiv Sena on Monday said its support for the Narendra Modi-led government was unconditional and there was no bargaining happening for any Cabinet post or portfolio.

“We have already made it clear that we are supporting the government unconditionally. There is no bargaining here. We are an ideological coalition and we want Prime Minister Modi to carry forward the mission, for nation-building, that he has been working on for the last 10 years,” Shiv Sena’s Lok Sabha leader and Kalyan MP Shrikant Shinde, the son of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, told The Indian Express.

Shrikant went on to emphasise, “This nation has asked for, and needs, the leadership of Prime Minister Modi ji. There is no bargaining or negotiation for power. We have extended unconditional support to an ideological coalition … The party, all MLAs, and MPs are faithfully committed to the NDA.”

Shrikant’s remark came after party MP Shrirang Barne made a statement expressing unhappiness about the distribution of ministerial berths. Barne was quoted as saying that his party was offered only one Minister of State (MoS) position despite having seven MPs whereas the Janata Dal (Secular) that has two MPs got a Cabinet berth and Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM (Secular) also got one Cabinet post despite having a single MP — Manjhi himself — in the Lower House. Barne’s protest came a day after Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) refused to join the government as it was offered an MoS position. NCP leader Praful Patel said accepting it would be akin to a demotion for him as he had been a Cabinet minister earlier.

JD(S) leader and former Karnataka CM H D Kumaraswamy and