MUMBAI: Maharashtra minister and Shiv Sena leader Bharat Gogawale has said Chhagan Bhujbal's exclusion from the cabinet is an internal issue of the NCP and not of the ruling Mahayuti coalition.
It is the discretion of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to pick ministers, like the allies Shiv Sena and BJP, Gogawale told reporters on Sunday.
"Others can't comment on this issue. The exclusion of Bhujbal from the council of ministers is the issue of the NCP and not of the Mahayuti coalition," he said.
Bhujbal has blamed NCP president and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar for not inducting him in the expanded cabinet of the BJP-led government.
The former minister claimed CM Devendra Fadnavis had favoured his induction into the state cabinet.
A total of 39 legislators took oath as ministers on December 15, including 33 as cabinet ministers and the rest as ministers of state.