Mumbai, Jun 11 (PTI) Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Shirsat on Tuesday asserted Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde did not put any demand before the BJP while supporting the ruling coalition NDA, but the party still got a Union ministry with independent charge.
Shirsat denied any rift in the NDA or the BJP-Shiv Sena combine over allocation of portfolios to the Union Council of Ministers.
Earlier in the day in New Delhi, Shiv Sena MP Prataprao Jadhav, elected from Buldhana in eastern Maharashtra, took charge as Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ayush ministry and as Minister of State (MoS) in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
"While supporting the BJP-led NDA, Chief Minister Shinde did not put forth any demand. Despite this, the prime minister allocated a ministry with independent charge to the Shiv Sena. In the future, there will be more posts (for the party)," Shirsat maintained.
It is not Shinde's nature to make demands when there is a coalition in place, he insisted.
The Shinde-led Shiv Sena, a ruling ally of the BJP in Maharashtra, has seven MPs in the Lok Sabha and one in the Rajya Sabha.
Shirsat's comments came a day after his party colleague and Lok Sabha MP from Maval Shrirang Barne expressed displeasure over the Shiv Sena not getting a Cabinet berth in the newly-formed Narendra Modi-led government.
Shirsat said Barne thought one Cabinet and two MoS berths would have accommodated some of the party MPs.
His demand will be fulfilled at the "right" time, he added. PTI PR RSY
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