File image of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde
| Photo Credit: PTI

Maharashtra Deputy CM Eknath Shinde. File.
| Photo Credit: Emmanual Yogini

Maharashtra could join the list of states that have a law against forced conversions and “love jihad” with the state government setting up a panel to study the aspects that can be covered under a future legislation. The seven-member panel will be headed by the director general of police, the top cop in the state, and include officials from the women and child welfare, minority affairs, law and judiciary, social justice, special assistance and Home departments. 

“Love jihad” is a term used by some to allege a conspiracy by Muslim men to lure Hindu women to marry them and then convert them to Islam.

In a government resolution issued on Friday, the BJP-led government in Maharashtra said the committee will suggest steps to deal with complaints of forced conversions and “love jihad”, and study the laws of other states to recommend legislation to prevent such acts. 

Thanking Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Maharashtra minister and senior BJP leader Mangal Prabhat Lodha said the state government is taking steps to curb incidents of “love jihad”. 

“Love jihad is a serious issue, and the state government is working towards preventing such incidents. The committee established to address cases of love jihad will work for the protection of women and preservation of cultural values,” he was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. 

Mr Lodha also pointed out that when he was in charge of the Women and Child Development department under the previous government led by Eknath Shinde, he had set up the Interfaith Marriage Coordination Committee, which helped bring such incidents to light. 

“Shraddha Walkar was brutally murdered by Aftab Amin. Rupali Chandanshive was killed by Iqbal Sheikh. Poonam Kshirsagar was murdered by Nizam Khan. Yashashree Shinde from Uran was killed by Dawood Sheikh. Sonam Shukla from Malad lost her life at the hands of Shahjib Ansari,” he said. 

Lok Sabha MP and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) Working President Supriya Sule, however, said the government should focus on tackling economic issues rather than love and marriage, which are personal choices. 

“If the economy is impacted, the entire country will suffer,” she said. 

Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat are among the states that already have laws to deal with cases of “love jihad”.

Last year, the Uttar Pradesh Assembly had passed the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion (Amendment) Bill, 2024 with provisions for 20-year imprisonment or a life sentence if a person was converted under threat or a promise of marriage.  

The Maharashtra Home Department has formed a Special Investigation Team to investigate whether the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi government headed by Uddhav Thackeray was planning to arrest then Leader of the Opposition Devendra Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde and in a fake case. 

The probe team was announced in the assembly on Tuesday by senior cabinet minister Shambhuraje Desai, who said it would be headed by a senior IPS officer.

The move came after a businessman, Sanjay Punamiya, claimed the media has aired sting operations in which a former police officer, during a telephonic conversation, said the former Mumbai Police chief was preparing to get Devendra Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde arrested. 

The arrest, he claimed, would be linked to a case against him.
Following the claims, BJP MLC Pravin Darekar demanded that a SIT be set up to investigate the conspiracy. 

He even presented a pen drive in the legislative council, claiming it contains videos of a sting operation that revealed the plan. 

This SIT – which has been asked to submit its report to the government within 30 days — will be headed by Mumbai police officer Satyanarayan Chaudhary.

The Opposition has scoffed at the claims, questioning why the Mahayuthi government is making this move now, despite being in power for more than three years. 

A video showed Eknath Shinde stopping his vehicle and instructing personnel to rush the man to a hospital

Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly and Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar.
| Photo Credit: ANI

The Devendra Fadnavis-led Mahayuti government in Maharashtra continues to grapple with internal discontent as Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is reportedly upset and away in his hometown.

Senior Congress leader and former Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly Vijay Wadettiwar on Monday sparked speculation by suggesting that the BJP may no longer need Mr. Shinde, hinting at the possibility of a new leader emerging within the Shinde faction, similar to how Mr. Shinde himself rose to prominence after breaking away from Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena.

The Congress leader was reacting to talk within political circles about Mr. Shinde’s unhappiness over the appointment of guardian ministers by Mr. Fadnavis.

Reviewing work: Shinde

Sources said Mr. Shinde has left for his native village in Satara district for a personal visit. However, the Deputy Chief Minister dismissed the claims and said that he was staying in his village as he was touring the district to review the ongoing irrigation project works. “I want to end this speculation… I came to the village as I am touring the area to review the irrigation project works,” he said.

Mr. Wadettiwar said: “There is an ongoing discord within the Mahayuti despite its massive majority in the Assembly elections. First, there were delays in Cabinet expansion, then controversies over guardian minister appointments, and now, the reversal of these appointments within 24 hours. This clearly indicates that all is not well within the government.”

He further criticised the “instability”, saying: “Today, they are changing guardian ministers; tomorrow, they might replace ministers or even the deputy chief minister. At this rate, the public will eventually have to put this government on hold. Instead of focusing on district development, these three parties — BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP — are competing over who will grab the largest share of benefits. This has led to growing dissatisfaction within the alliance.”

He also questioned the government’s priorities, pointing out delays in implementing key promises like the Ladki Bahin scheme of ₹2,100 allowance for women beneficiaries, reducing the number of beneficiaries, and failing to address farmer loan waivers. “Instead of addressing these pressing issues, the government is embroiled in internal conflicts, dragging Maharashtra into chaos,” he claimed.

Nearly two weeks after the Maharashtra oath ceremony, the cabinet portfolios were announced Saturday, with Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the Chief Minister in the last government, landing three ministries – Urban Development, Housing and Public Works – but not the Home portfolio, which he was reportedly keen on.

Ajit Pawar, the second Deputy Chief Minister, was assigned the key Finance Ministry and State Excise portfolio. 

Chief Minister Devenda Fadnavis will hold home, energy excluding renewable energy, law and judiciary, general administration, information and publicity and departments/subjects not allowed to any other minister.

The portfolios were allocated after the weeklong winter session of the state Legislature ended earlier in the day. The strength of the Devendra Fadnavis-led cabinet is 42 against 43 permissible under the legislative norms.

Hours before the big announcement, state minister Girish Mahajan said that “he believes a unanimous decision has been reached” between Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his Deputies over portfolio allocation.

The Mahayuti alliance of BJP, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) won over 230 of the state’s 288 assembly seats, while opposition’s Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance of Congress, Uddhav Thackeray’s Sena faction and Sharad Pawar’s NCP faction could win only 46 seats.

Mr Fadnavis and his deputies – Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar – were sworn in on December 5, and 39 ministers were inducted ahead of the Winter Session on December 15.

Opposition parties alleged that the winter session of the Maharashtra legislature was held only for formality as ministers couldn’t resolve issues of farmers and others in the absence of portfolios.

Taking a swipe at the Devendra Fadnavis-led government, Uddhav Thackeray party leader Aaditya Thackeray today termed the delay in portfolio allocation “a joke”, saying that ministers have gotten their perks but no responsibility.

“All ministers got bungalows and cars but no responsibility. A joke is going on. No one wants to serve,” he told news agency ANI.

Portfolios allocated to BJP ministers are: Chandrashekhar Bawankule (Revenue), Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil (Water Resources- Krishna and Godavari Valley Development corporation), Chandrakant Patil (Higher and Technical Education, Parliamentary affairs), Girish Mahajan (Water Resources- Vidarbha , Tapi, Konkan Development Corporation and Disaster Management).

Ganesh Naik has been given Forests, Mangal Prabhat Lodha Skill Development, Employment, Entrepreneurship and Innovation; Jaykumar Raval Marketing and Protocol, Pankaja Munde Environment and Climate Change, Animal Husbandry; Atul Save OBC Welfare, Dairy Development and Renewable Energy.

Ashok Uike has been given Tribal Development, Ashish Shelar Cultural Affairs and Information Technology, Shivendrasinh Bhosale Public Works.

Jaykumar Gore has been given Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Sanjay Savkare Textiles, Nitesh Rane Fisheries and Ports, Akash Fundkar Labour.

Shiv Sena Ministers’ portfolios: Gulabrao Patil Water Supply and Sanitation, Dadaji Bhuse School Education, Sanjay Rathod Soil and Water Conservation, Uday Samant Industries and Marathi language, Shambhuraj Desai Tourism, Mining, Ex-servicemen Welfare, Sanjay Shirsat Social Justice, Pratap Sarnaik Transport, Bharat Gogawale Employment Guarantee, Horticulture, Salt Pan Lands Development; Prakash Abitkar Public Health and Family Welfare.

NCP ministers’ portfolios: Hasan Mushrif Medical Education, Dhananjay Munde Food and Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection, Dattatrey Bharne Sports ,Youth welfare and Minority Development and Aukaf, Aditi Tatkare Women and Child Development , Manikrao Kokate Agriculture.

Narhari Zirwal has been given Food and Drug Administration, Special assistance. Makrand Patil has been given Relief and Rehabilitation, while Babasaheb Patil was allocated Cooperation.

Mumbai:

Eleven key ministers from Maharashtra’s ruling alliance Mahayuti have been dropped from the brand new government headed by Devendra Fadnavis, giving rise to considerable disquiet among their supporters. Protests have broken out in pockets by supporters of some of the leaders – especially in Yeola by supporters of Chaggan Bhujbal.

Of the three constituents of the ruling alliance, Ajit Pawar’s faction of the Nationalist Congress Party have dropped the most – five of its key leaders, Chhagan Bhujbal, Dharmarao Baba Atram, Sanjay Bansode, Dilip Walse Patil and Anil Patil have been dropped. The corresponding number from the BJP and Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena are three each.

The BJP has dropped Ravindra Chavan, Sudhir Mungantiwar and Vijaykumar Gavit while the Sena has kept out Tanaji Sawant, Abdul Sattar and Deepak Kesarkar.

Chhagan Bhujbal has openly declared that he would not attend the assembly session any more and will return to Nashik, saying he has been disappointed. He also said he has been offered a Rajya Sabha seat but accepting it now will “not be fair” to the voters of Yeola.

The other big leader dropped, Sudhir Mungantiwar, has contradicted Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s claim that he was dropped after a “long discussion”.

“We had a long discussion with Sudhir Mungantiwar on the expansion of the cabinet. If he does not get a ministerial berth, there is a possibility that he will be given some big responsibility by the party,” Mr Fadnavis had said.

Mr Mungantiwar refuted the claim, saying Devendra Fadnavis did not have a long discussion with him about the ministerial post. They spoke only spoke on the day of the expansion. Mr Fadnavis and state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule had said that his name was on the list of ministers the day before the cabinet expansion, but it turned out otherwise, he added.

There are others who were apparently in the running for a cabinet berth but ended up empty-handed. The Sena especially is facing backlash, with one of its MLAs, Narendra Bhondekar, having already quit party posts.

Vijay Shivtare, the MLA from Purandar, said he was “not sad over ministership, but the treatment meted out”.

“The three leaders didn’t communicate properly. I will not take ministership even if given after 2.5 years,’ he told reporters, refering to the two-and-a-half-year formula for ministers who were inducted.

“Workers are not slaves. I am not needy, just the treatment was not good. Maharashtra is on the path of Bihar because we are not looking at regional balance but caste balance,” he added.

Prakash Surve, the MLA from Magathane, said he was the first MLA to join Mr Shinde after the rebellion.

“I am a simple man, achieved everything after a struggle and will continue to do so. Many who demanded (cabinet berths) are children of big names, I am not. Had to shift my family after I went with Shinde,” he said.

The murmurs of protest come amid Mr Bawankule’s assertion that there was no dispute over the allocation of cabinet portfolios. “There is no delay in allocating portfolios to the ministers. There is no dispute. I was also part of the talks and the matter stands finished. There is no dispute and it will be announced soon,” Mr Bawankule was quoted as saying by news agency IANS.

The new government has already promised audit of the new ministers. Mr Fadnavis, who made the announcement, said those from the Eknath Shinde cabinet not accommodated this time have been dropped because of their performance.

Twenty-Five new faces have found a place in the Cabinet — Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Ganesh Naik, Jaykumar Rawal, Pankaja Munde, Ashok Uike, Ashish Shelar, Dattatreya Bharne, Shivendraraje Bhosale, Manikrao Kokate, Jaykumar Gore, Narhari Jirwal, Sanjay Savkare, Sanjay Shirsat, Pratap Sarnaik, Bharat Gogavale, Makarand Patil, Nitesh Rane, Akash Fundkar, Babasaheb Patil, Prakash Abitkar, Madhuri Misal, Ashish Jaiswal, Pankaj Bhoyar, Meghna Bordikar, Indranil Naik.

Of the 39 ministers who took the oath, four women legislators have been inducted including Pankaja Munde, who had worked as the minister of woman and child welfare in the Devendra Fadnavis-led Cabinet between 2014 and 2019, Madhuri Misal and Meghana Bordikar (BJP) and Aditi Tatkare (NCP), who as the minister of woman and child welfare was involved in the implementation of the flagship Ladki Bahin Yojana ahead of the state assembly election.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is in Delhi to hold talks with the BJP leadership on the distribution of ministerial berths among the three allies of Mahayuti — BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP. NCP chief Ajit Pawar is also in the national capital and has put up party leader Praful Patel’s residence. Conspicuous by his absence is Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde, who agreed to become Deputy Chief Minister after reluctantly vacating the Chief Minister post for Mr Fadnavis.

According to sources, the formula of ministerial berth distribution within the Maharashtra government has been finalised. The BJP is likely to get around 20 seats, the Shiv Sena 12 and the NCP 10. Maharashtra can have a total of 43 ministers, including the Chief Minister. The formula appears to have been finalised after considering each ally’s performance in the recently held Assembly polls in which Mahayuti scored a mammoth victory. While the BJP won 132 seats, the Sena bagged 57 and NCP scored 41.

Mr Fadnavis met Union Home Minister Amit Shah last night to discuss the ministerial expansion. He also met Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Mr Shinde’s absence, however, has cast a shadow, suggesting that the Sena chief has still not made peace after he was forced to vacate the Chief Minister post for Mr Fadnavis, who served as his deputy in the previous government.

While the Sena had argued that the election was won under the leadership of Mr Shinde and he must continue as Chief Minister, the BJP refused to budge and claimed the top post for Mr Fadnavis. Mr Shinde did not have much leverage because the BJP needed just NCP’s support to cross the majority mark. Publicly, Mr Shinde said he would not be an obstacle in government formation and also took the oath as Deputy Chief Minister on December 5, but his absence in the capital now has raised eyebrows in political circles. It is, however, not known if he can still fly down. 

Mumbai:

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday criticised the Karnataka government for denying permission to ‘Marathi Ekikaran Samiti’ to hold their conference in the state.

Mr Shinde accused the Siddaramaiah government of “repressing” the Maratha community by arresting several leaders.

Speaking to the media, Mr Shinde said, “Marathi-speaking people in Karnataka had organised a conference. In this country, one can live anywhere, go anywhere and organise a conference, but the Karnataka government unleashed a cycle of repression and arrested the MLA, mayor and more than 100 Marathi-speaking brothers and sisters of the Marathi Ekikaran Samiti who had organised the conference. I condemn this.”

He further emphasized that Veer Savarkar, who sacrificed his life for the country, should be respected.

“I condemn those who are trying to remove his statue… Our stand is clear, the people of Maharashtra and Karnataka will teach a lesson to the Karnataka government which is resorting to such repression,” Shinde added.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aditya Thackeray also reacted to the incident and demanded to stop “injustice” against the Marathi people immediately.

“The Karnataka government not only denied permission to the General Conference of Maharashtra Integration Committee being held in Belgaum but also imposed a curfew in Belgaum. Borders are also being closed. Strong protest against this injustice on Marathi people!” he said.

“Belgaum is and will remain an integral part of Marathi identity! I appeal to the Government of Karnataka to stop this injustice to the Marathi people immediately! Nothing is greater than the interest of Maharashtra and Marathi people!” Thackeray added.

In another post, the Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA said that he is ready to support the proposal to make Belgaum, a union territory.

“We are ready to unanimously support the proposal to make Belgaum a union territory for the justice of the Marathi people,” he said.

Speaking on the issue, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve said that this is not any party issue but a Maratha issue.

“This is not a party issue, it is not a BJP, Congress or Shiv Sena issue. This is a Marathi Manoos issue. Shiv Sena has always taken the right stand for Marathis, Aditya Thackeray has taken it… Our priority is that Marathi Manoos who are in Belgaum of Karnataka should be given security and they should get the rights they have in a democracy,” he said.

“There is a BJP government here and at the Centre, so if injustice is being done to Marathi Manoos then the BJP government of the Centre and Maharashtra should take steps for it. Veer Savarkar is a brave freedom fighter not only of Maharashtra but of the whole country, his contribution is huge, so it would be wrong for the Karnataka government to remove Veer Savarkar’s picture from the legislature, they have not removed it yet but the Maharashtra government should clearly state its stand to stop them from doing so, this is our opinion,” Danve added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)