Miffed Over Ministerial Snub, Maharashtra Congress MLA Kailash Gorantyal Quits Party

The drama over the portfolio allocation in Maharashtra continues. Even as Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari gave nod to the portfolio list submitted by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, senior Maharashtra Congress leader Kailash Gorantyal resigned from the party on Sunday. Upset over the ministerial snub, Gorantyal took the decision and sent his resignation to Maharashtra Congress chief. There are reports that Gorantyal is likely to meet Balasaheb Thorat later in the day. Not only the Jalna legislator, there are reports that several office-bearers and workers will also quit.

Gorantyal had defeated Shiv Sena's Arjun Khotkar in the October Assembly polls. City Congress president Shaikh Mahmood said Gorantyal was a three-time MLA and was also councillor earlier and had worked hard to strengthen the party in the district.

Gorantyal’s resignation comes a day after reports surfaced that Shiv Sena’s lone Muslim lawmaker Abdul Sattar has also quit from the Maharashtra government. However, now Sattar has reportedly said that he has not quit. There were also reports that Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut was unhappy with the party as his brother Sunil Raut did not get a place in the cabinet expansion.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has approved the allocation of portfolios as proposed by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, a Raj Bhavan spokesperson said on Sunday. The list of portfolios to be allocated to ministers was sent to the governor on Saturday evening, state NCP chief Jayant Patil earlier said.

The Governor has approved the allocation of portfolios, a spokesperson of the Raj Bhavan said. The Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government is facing criticism from the opposition BJP for delay in the allocation of portfolios despite being in power for over a month now.

Chief Minister Thackeray and six of his council members - two each from the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress – took oath on November 28. Thackeray expanded his month-old ministry on December 30 by inducting 36 ministers.