Not Interested In Ministerial Berth At Centre, Says Shrikant Shinde

Shrikant Shinde, a Shiv Sena MP and the son of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, on Saturday said he was not interested in becoming a minister at the Centre.

Shrikant won from Kalyan Lok Sabha seat for the third time in a row. His party is a constituent of the NDA as well as the ruling coalition in Maharashtra which includes the BJP.

Amid demand by some party leaders that he should become a minister, Shinde told reporters that several other MPs have worked for the party for years and they should be given the opportunity.

”If asked by the chief minister whether I want to become a minister, I will decline. I am more interested in doing party work and building it,” he added.

Being the leader of the Shiv Sena parliamentary party, his job would involve coordination with party MPs and ensuring good performance by other leaders, he said.

Shiv Sena’s Thane MP Naresh Mhaske said party leaders and workers wanted that Shrikant Shinde should become a Union minister, and they would put the demand before chief minister Shinde.

The party’s Hatkanangale MP Dhairyasheel Mane also made the same demand.

The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena won seven seats in Maharashtra in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)