CM offers mathadi leader Narendra Patil cabinet rank
NAVIMUMBAI:CHIEF minister Devendra Fadnavis announced on Tuesday that mathadi leader Narendra Patil, who was recently appointed chairman of Annasaheb Patil Arthik Vikas Mandal, will now have a cabinet minister’s rank. Patil is the son of the late Annasaheb Patil, a mathadi leader after whom the corporation is named.
Addressing a gathering of mathadis at APMC market in Vashi, Fadnavis said, “To give more power to the corporation so that it can work better for the mathadis, I declare that its chairman will now have the rank of a cabinet minister and deputy chairman that of a minister of state.” Mathadis, who belong to the Maratha community, are traditional supporters of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), however, earlier this month, Patil quit the party.
“The cabinet rank will help me ensure that the policies and schemes for the mathadis are implemented,” said Patil. On reports of his officially joining the BJP soon, Patil said, “Our hearts have met and the announcements will happen soon.”
Fadnavis was at the wholesale APMC market for the 85th birth anniversary programme of Annasaheb Patil which has previously been chaired by NCP leader Sharad Pawar and other top NCP leaders.
“This is a government that has responded to the demands of the mathadis unlike the previous governments. We have strengthened the Mathadi Act. We have withdrawn the decision to unify all the Mathadi boards into a single entity.” Fadnavis said that discussions are on at the ministerial level at the Centre for the Act to be formulated soon.
He added that the Maratha reservation issue is being resolved in a time-bound manner.