Raut, a Congress leader, had made the appointments earlier this week, irking both the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). The two parties objected to the move, claiming the appointments needed to be cleared with them as well. They said no unilateral decision should be taken since there were several government bodies and undertakings where appointments of non-executive members were to be done and that each party’s nominees would have to be given space in these bodies.
While Raut tried to brazen it out, he was cornered within his party as the appointments were made without taking even the “Congress state leadership into confidence”, according to those in the know. Maharashtra Congress chief Balasaheb Thorat told media persons, “Raut should not have taken this decision unilaterally. He should have spoken to all since this government is a three-party-run government.”
Earlier this month, the Mumbai police had to cancel the appointments of several senior police officers made by the Mumbai police commissioner after disagreements between the Shiv Sena and the NCP.