Fadnavis goes Modi way

Limits the number of ministers to 10

Mumbai: A look at the portfolio allocation to ministers by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis shows he is serious about his commitment to provide "maximum governance and minimum government."

Synergy is the operative word in allocation of portfolios as seen from several cases where many ministers handled portfolios of related subjects. For instance, there were earlier separate ministers for school and higher education, medical education and sports and youth welfare. Now, to ensure better coordination, the new government has entrusted the job to a single minister, in this case Vinod Tawde.Tawde said he has been given charge of Human Resource Development. Notably, there was no concept of a HRD ministry earlier in the state. Similarly, tribal development and social justice, which earlier had two ministers, will now be handled by a single minister.

Though this arrangement is till further expansion of the ministry, a senior bureaucrat said the new approach is cohesive and will help focus energy and resources in a much more productive manner. Revenue and agriculture portfolios will be handled by a single minister, in this case by senior leader Eknath Khadse. These are related departments, but earlier had separate ministers apparently to "accommodate" aspirants.

Khadse will also handle animal husbandry, dairy development and fisheries, which earlier had separate minister.

The most significant change has come with the decision of Fadnavis to keep Home portfolio with himself. By limiting the number of ministers to 10, Fadnavis has also raised hopes in the Shiv Sena camp that there may still be scope for the former allies to work together in the new regime, where the BJP has usurped Sena's role of the 'Big Brother'.

Fadnavis also said that talks with Shiv Sena were on track and he was confident of forming an alliance with the former partner for a strong government.

"Talks with Shiv Sena are on and they are on track. I am confident that we will form an alliance with Shiv Sena and it will be a strong government," he said. He said BJP has neither accepted nor rejected the unilateral decision of NCP to abstain from the crucial trust vote on November 12. "They have said they will abstain during the trust vote," he said.

The Chief Minister also said none of his government's decisions would be influenced by anyone's pressure.Amid uncertainty over its support to the new BJP government in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena issued a veiled warning to the Fadnavis government against NCP's offer of outside support and dubbed the move by Sharad Pawar's party as a "poisonous overture."

No sanction should be needed to probe corruption: CM
Fadnavis has proposed to do away with the need for sanction to probe the corruption cases where there is a prima facie evidence. "Why should any sanction be necessary? We would make a framework...Where preliminary inquiry is done and there is a prima facie evidence, no sanction should be taken. We would change the law," Fadnavis told a news channel.

"There is no need for discretion (for initiating a probe) for corruption cases. When you find certain prima facie evidence, why should you stop?" Fadnavis said.