The Hindu : National : Maharashtra Ministers offer to quit

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Thursday, Apr 29, 2004

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National

Maharashtra Ministers offer to quit

By Mahesh Vijapurkar

MUMBAI, APRIL 28. All Congress and Nationalist Congress Party Ministers have offered to resign to enable Sushilkumar Shinde to downsize his team to 44 from the current 67 to meet the specification set out in the 91st Constitution Amendment that the strength of Ministers must be 15 per cent of the Assembly's size.

The 11 Independents and small, one-member parties in the coalition Government, however, are yet to make up their minds and it is likely that they would hold out and gain some concessions like not having the Congress or the NCP fielding candidates against them in the coming elections in September this year. They are yet to announce their intentions.

But the downsizing — the resignations in writing are to follow; Congress Ministers orally offered to resign at a Cabinet meeting today and NCP Ministers were surprised. The NCP later said it too would follow suit. The Government, which intends to have some populist measures adopted in the budget session in May, needs numbers and the trimming may come only later.

The Shinde Ministry, dependent on the support of Independents, has to add an entire floor to the secretariat building at great cost, to accommodate the high number of Ministers. He had been contemplating an annexe but the Constitutional amendment came to his rescue; he does not have funds to sustain such a large team.

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