The Hindu : National : Adik left out of Maharashtra Cabinet

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Wednesday, Nov 10, 2004

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National

Adik left out of Maharashtra Cabinet

By Arunkumar Bhatt

MUMBAI, NOV. 9. Prominent among those who could not find a place in the new Council of Ministers in Maharashtra today are the former Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president, Govindrao Adik, and the former Minister, Kripashanker Singh.

Others who did not find berths are Vilaskaka Patil, Syed Ahmed, Arif Naseem Khan and Rajendra Darda.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had to drop the tribal leader, Madhukarrao Pichad, and Padamsinh Patil. But Mr. Patil's son, Rana Jagjeetsinh Patil, who is not a member of either House, was inducted. The NCP would soon decide from which constituency he would contest to enable him to enter the State legislature, the Deputy Chief Minister and party leader, R.R. Patil, said.

Four new faces

The Ministry has four new faces with Cabinet rank. These include Ganesh Naik who was earlier in the Shiv Sena Government and former State NCP president, Babanrao Pachpute who quit the NCP following denial of ticket and got elected as an Independent. As many as eight Ministers of State are new-comers.

There are as many as 20 Maratha Ministers, including the Chief Minister and his Deputy. Mr. Deshmukh said this was because the Assembly had more Marathas.

Western Maharashtra, the Maratha heartland, is also the most represented region, with 14 berths. While Vidarbha has four berths, Mumbai and Northern Maharashtra has four Ministers each, the coastal Konkan has three and Marathwada five.

Apart from the four Muslim Ministers, there are three from the Scheduled Tribe, two from the Scheduled Caste and four from the Other Backward Caste.

Vimal Mundada, elected from a reserved seat, is the only woman Minister. The entire Upper House, the Legislative Council, finds only one junior berth (RPI-Athavale) and none at the Cabinet level. That is because the Cabinet needs majority support in the Assembly to stay in office.

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