After not being given a berth in the newly formed Maharashtra cabinet, supporters of Nationalist Congress Party leader Chhagan Bhujbal created a ruckus on Sunday as they burnt tyres outside the NCP office in Nashik.
The ministers in the Devendra Fadnavis government of Maharashtra took oath on Sunday, including 19 MLAs from the Bharatiya Janata Party and 11 from the Shiv Sena. Nine legislators from the Ajit Pawar-led NCP also took oath as ministers in the Fadnavis cabinet, but this did not include Bhujbal, triggering outrage among his supporters.
Bhujbal had not attended the party's meeting as well, which took place in Nagpur on Sunday and stayed in a hotel.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister and NCP supremo Ajit Pawar declined to comment on it, adding that all the MLAs who took oath will remain in office for two and a half years, after which new legislators will be given a chance in the cabinet.
"We will give an opportunity to others also for two-and-a-half years," Pawar said while addressing a gathering of his party workers in Nagpur hours before the cabinet expansion.
Everybody wants to become a minister and deserves an opportunity, but the ministerial berths are limited, he added.
The Deputy CM noted that during the previous tenure of the Mahayuti government, some MLAs got an opportunity to work as ministers for one-and-a-half years.
"We have decided that during the five-year tenure of this government, we will give an opportunity to others also for two-and-a-half years, which means many will get a chance to become (cabinet) ministers and state ministers. Accordingly, many districts and regions will get representation," Pawar added.
NCP's Dilip Walse Patil and BJP's Sudhir Mungantiwar were other prominent leaders who were left out of the ministry.
The 9 NCP MLAs who took oath as ministers on Sunday included Hasan Mushrif, Dhananjay Munde, Dattatreya Bharane, Aditi Tatkare, Manikrao Kokate, Narhari Jhirwal, Makarand Jadhav Patil, Babasaheb Patil, and Indranil Naik.