''Ready if govt falls": Sharad Pawar takes a subtle dig at Eknath Shinde's 2-member cabinet

Taking a dig at chief minister Eknath Shinde for failing to expand his cabinet even over a month after taking the reins of the government, NCP president Sharad Pawar on Friday said they were "prepared to face polls in the event the government falls.""It's more than a month now, and Shinde has not been able to expand the government. I'm not an astrologer to predict if the one-month old government will survive or fall. In the event the government falls, we are prepared to face the polls," Pawar told mediapersons in Nashik, adding sarcastically that Shinde and BJP's Devendra Fadnavis feel they can control the administration with just two cabinet members.

Pawar stated that there was no sign of a cabinet expansion even as the state faces a "flood situation". Chief Minister Shinde must observe and learn from the visits of opposition leaders to various affected areas so that people get relief, he added."It is about a month now (the Shinde government was sworn in on June 30) but there is no sign of ministers. There is a flood situation in the state and farmers are in trouble. A team of ministers is necessary to work in such a situation," he told reporters."However, the chief minister-deputy chief minister are confident that they will run the government on their own, and, hence, there is no sign of a cabinet expansion," he added.Talking about tours of opposition leaders to affected areas, Pawar said the CM must observe and learn from them as these are not visits for "felicitations" but to understand the woes of the people. "You can see the contradiction. The chief minister must learn something from this," he asserted.