Eknath Shinde didn't make me 'minister': Rebel Shiv Sena MLA takes a dig at Maharashtra CM for ignoring his 'seniority'

Rebel Shiv Sena MLA rued the alleged lack of respect for seniority in politics after a BJP MLA with whose father he claimed he had worked earlier was made a cabinet minister in the Eknath Shinde government.

Aurangabad: Rebel Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Shirsat rued the alleged lack of respect for seniority in politics after a BJP MLA with whose father he claimed he had worked earlier was made a cabinet minister in the Eknath Shinde government in Maharashtra.

Speaking at a public function connected to road works here on Sunday, Shirsat, who had joined the Shinde camp in the early days of the Sena rebellion in June, sounded disgruntled at not being made a minister. Incidentally, state Cooperative Minister Atul Save, of the BJP, was the chief guest.

"I have worked with Atul Save's father (Moreshwar Save, former two-time Shiv Sena Lok Sabha MP from Aurangabad). When I was working with his father, I never thought he (Atul Save) would come into politics," Shirsat said.

"He (Atul Save) became a minister in the earlier government and has now become a cabinet minister. It seems there is nothing left called seniority," the Aurangabad West MLA said.

Atul Save was inducted into the Shinde government on August 9, when the cabinet was expanded for the first time since the new dispensation came to power on June 30.

A rebellion by Eknath Shinde and 39 of 55 MLAs of the Shiv Sena led to the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in June. After the collapse of the MVA government, Shinde was then sworn in as the chief minister with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis is the Deputy Chief Minister in the new government.