Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Friday made quite a few Congress leaders nervous indicating that there would be major changes in the state Cabinet. The CM asserted that bitter decisions would be taken irrespective of whether anybody liked it or not.
There is a uncertainty looming large over several Congress ministers after their names cropped up in the Adarsh scam. Sources from the Congress said that the new Cabinet may have many new faces.
Mr Chavan, who was felicitated by the state Congress, said that he would try to convince everyone before taking the difficult decisions that he has to take.
“I was not expecting to be made Maharashtra CM. I got a call from Mr A.K. Antony at 3 am on Wednesday. I was asleep when the call came. Mr Antony told me to immediately make a call to 10, Janapth. When I called up at 10 Janpath, I was asked to come there at 7 am. After I reached there, I was told to take up Maharashtra’s responsibility,” Mr Chavan said. The CM further said that the party high command has asked him to take some tough decisions. “I have been ordered to take tough decisions and I have come here with that intention,” he said adding, “I have spoken to 100 MLAs since yesterday. I am trying to take everybody into confidence, including the sitting ministers. Only I have been sworn in from the Congress party. The rest of the cabinet members will take the oath next week.” Mr Chavan’s speech was a clear warning to his partymen to be ready to face any eventuality. Some senior ministers are likely to face the axe, while some new faces could be introduced. Congress had 23 and NCP 20 ministers in the outgoing 43-member ministry. Ten NCP ministers, including deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, were sworn in along with Mr Chavan on Thursday. However, no other Congress minister took the oath, leading to speculations about a major overhaul of the ministry.
Mr Chavan also promised that there would be “good news” about the Navi Mumbai airport very soon. “We had called a secretary in the environment ministry to the Prime Minister’s Office to discuss the matter and a delegation of Maharashtra leaders had also met the PM following which the process to clear the project was expedited,” said Mr Chavan, who was minister of state in the PMO before becoming the CM.
The existing Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport has exceeded its capacity to handle the expanding air traffic and a new airport is necessary to reduce the load, he said.