As political landscapes shift, erstwhile Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, now leading a renamed Shiv Sena, embarks on the search for heavyweight portfolios after his recent downgrading to Deputy Chief Minister. A disappointed Shinde thus seeks lucrative departments following his loss of power.
The BJP, as it sits pretty with a lion’s share of 132 assembly seats, is in a commanding position at the negotiating table. Having lost out on his demand for the coveted home portfolio, the eager Shinde now remains interested in securing one, or more, of the other financially key departments: irrigation, PWD, and revenue.
According to political analyst Rajan Khanna, while negotiations will follow, Shinde’s bargaining chips are few, with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Ajit Pawar not having raised significant demands. Things for Pawar are even complicated by ongoing anti-corruption investigations that could stand in his way of bargaining against a BJP that holds the numbers.
Insiders close to the developments say that capture of key infrastructure and economic departments is crucial for Shinde, with Maharashtra battling it out to retain its position as India’s second most industrialized state, accounting for 20 percent of the country’s industrial output. With plenty of water resources, irrigation projects are crucial not only for economic development but also for political patronage. The Adhala Medium Irrigation Project, the Chikotra Irrigation Project, and several dam projects are some of the crucial projects related to the future of the state.
The infamous ₹35,000 crore Maharashtra irrigation scam from 1999-2000, involving Ajit Pawar, still looms large in public memory, underscoring the political stakes tied to water management.
Shinde is also eyeing the PWD, a department seen as a cash cow by politicians. The state’s budget for 2023-24 estimated an all-inclusive expenditure of ₹6,02,008 crore, with a fiscal deficit of ₹95,501 crore, which is 2.46% of GSDP. There have been complaints of inflated tenders for projects under the Maharashtra State Infrastructure Development Corporation, indicating the possibility of corruption in the present government.
Furthermore, the revenue department is another of interest for Shinde, and its estimated expenditure for the financial year 2023-24 has been pegged at ₹4,65,645 crore, which is a 3% rise over the previous year. The role of this department becomes important to handle the daily operational cost of the government to pay the salaries and pensions of over two million workers in the state.
Shinde is also planning to target the Bombay Municipal Corporation, India’s richest civic body, which has spent a whopping ₹2.19 lakh crore on the city in the last ten years and whose budget is more than that of many Indian states. The BMC budget presented for 2023-2024 was all-time high, crossing ₹50,000 crore for the first time.
As BMC elections draw near, Khanna points out that 60-65% of the constituencies are dominated by Marathi voters, placing Shinde in an enviable position to strike in this arena.
In the days when he was Chief Minister, Shinde claimed proudly that ₹8 lakh crore worth of infrastructure projects were afoot in Maharashtra-the highest in the country. Now, ironically, these are projects which he wants to use for Shiv Sena’s benefit.
