Shiv Sena`s Anant Geete takes charge of Heavy Industries Ministry

A day after expressing unhappiness over the portfolio allotted to him, Shiv Sena`s Anant Geete took charge of the Heavy Industries Ministry.

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi/Mumbai: A day after expressing unhappiness over the portfolio allotted to him, Shiv Sena`s Anant Geete on Wednesday assumed charge of the Heavy Industries Ministry. Downplaying the tension between Shiv Sena and the BJP over the issue, Geete said there is no problem between the two parties. The decision came after Uddhav Thackeray held "satisfactory talks" with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he told a news agency. When asked whether the party was still upset with the portfolio allocation, Geete said, "We are not upset now". The party will look into the matter when the Cabinet is expanded later, he said. The ruling NDA`s second largest constituent, the Shiv Sena was upset over the poor representation it got in the new Narendra Modi government, as well as the portfolio for Geete. The Sena secured only one berth with Geete -- its six-time MP from Raigad in Konkan -- inducted as Cabinet minister. He was given the heavy industries portfolio, which was another point of disappointment for the party, said party sources. A peeved Geete did not take charge of his ministry, though all others, including Modi and his Cabinet ministers got down to work on Tuesday. Sena president Uddhav Thackeray met Geete and other supporting parties to discuss the issue, especially as even another NDA constituent, the Republican Party of India of Ramdas Athawale, failed to get a Cabinet berth despite intense lobbying in the past few days. Shiv Sena has 18 MPs in the Lok Sabha, making it the second largest NDA constituent after the Bharatiya Janata Party. Since over a week, it was hopeful of at least four-five of its MPs securing a Cabinet berth, besides a few gubernatorial posts. In the NDA government headed by prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee from 1999, the Sena had three Cabinet ministers with plum portfolios, though it had fewer MPs compared to 2014. At one point of time in 2002, it had even managed to bag the post of Lok Sabha speaker, for senior leader Manohar Joshi. (With IANS inputs)