Mumbai, Nov. 18 -- Shiv Sena ministers from the Eknath Shinde-led faction largely stayed away from the Maharashtra cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday, although Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar later maintained that he noticed no signs of discontent during the discussions.
According to official sources, only Shinde attended the meeting from his party.
The absences were widely viewed as the Sena faction's attempt to signal dissatisfaction to its ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party, over recent defections of its leaders and workers to the BJP in the Kalyan-Dombivli region.
Pawar, however, told reporters that he believed the no-show was mainly due to Sena ministers being occupied with scrutiny of nomination p...