Shinde rolls out sops for party MLAs, MPs; Gogawale made MRTC chairman

MUMBAI: Chief Minister Eknath Shinde appointed Shiv Sena chief whip and Mahad MLA Bharat Gogawale as the chairman of the Maharashtra Road Transport Corporation to bring down the discontentment brewing in his party.
Gogawale, who hails from Raigad district, was against NCP’s Aditi Tatkare becoming the guardian minister of Raigad and had openly expressed his unhappiness at being left out.
On Monday, the state also appointed Shiv Sena spokesperson and MLA Sanjay Shirsat as the chairman of City Industrial Development Corporation. As no cabinet expansion is in sight, Shinde gave him the chairmanship with the rank of a minister.
Another dissident, former MP Anand Adsul, was appointed as the chairman of SC/ST commission while former Nanded MP from Shiv Sena, Hemant Patil, who heads the Balasaheb Thackeray Turmeric Research and Training Centre in Hingoli district, was given the rank of a cabinet minister.
Sources in the government said that some more appointments are likely in the next few days to pacify MLAs and former MPs who have been complaining of neglect in the party.