Expressing his disappointment after he was not offered cabinet berth in the new BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, Nationalist Congress Party leader Praful Patel said on Sunday said accepting the position of Minister of State (MoS) with independent charge in the Union Cabinet will be considered a demotion for him adding that he was earlier a Cabinet Minister in the UPA Government headed by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Patel’s comments came ahead of the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Council of Ministers.
“Last night we were informed that our party will get a Minister of State with Independent charge. I was earlier a Cabinet Minister in the Union Government, so this will be a demotion for me. We have informed the BJP leadership and they have already told us to just wait a few days, they will take remedial measures,” Patel told reporters.
During the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, under the leadership of then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Patel was the cabinet minister for the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.
Maharashtra Deputy CM and NCP chief Ajit Pawar said, “Praful Patel has served as a cabinet minister in the central government and we did not feel right in taking Minister of State with Independent charge. So we told them (BJP) that we are ready to wait for a few days, but we want a cabinet ministry. We are going to attend the swearing-in ceremony today…”
He further said, “We have one Lok Sabha and one Rajya Sabha MP today, but in the next 2-3 months we will have a total of 3 members in the Rajya Sabha and our number of MPs in Parliament will be 4. So we said we should be given one (cabinet ministry) seat.”
Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis also said that Praful Patel’s name was finalised for the post of Independent charge (MoS) Minister, adding that in the coalition government, certain criteria are fixed for the post of minister, and those criteria cannot be changed for one party.
“NCP was offered an Independent charge (MoS) minister post by us. Praful Patel’s name was also final. But he remains a cabinet minister. NCP leaders were of the opinion that he could not be made a state minister. In the coalition government, certain criteria are fixed for the post of minister, and those criteria cannot be changed for one party. So this time, he could not be included in the Union Cabinet. But he will be considered in the future,” he said.
NCP chief Ajit Pawar said that they did not feel right to take the Minister of State with Independent charge as Praful Patel had served as a cabinet minister in the central government earlier.
“Praful Patel has served as a cabinet minister in the central government and we did not feel right taking the Minister of State with Independent charge. So we told them (BJP) that we are ready to wait for a few days, but we want a cabinet ministry. They said okay and we junked their offer of Minister of State with Independent charge. Today we have been called at 7:15 pm for the oath-taking ceremony and we are going as well as part of the NDA,” he said.