Will Maharashtra Government Complete Tenure? Aaditya Thackeray's Reply

The road ahead for the ideologically disparate coalition of the Shiv Sena, the Congress and Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party can be shaped by listening to the people, Sena's Aaditya Thackeray suggested today. The 29-year-old took oath today as part of the extended cabinet of his father and party chief Uddhav Thackeray, becoming one of the state's youngest ministers.

"What is important for is is to remain humble and to listen to the people... we should listen to as many people as would come with us," he told NDTV when asked if the three-party government would last five years.

The three parties came together after weeks of tough negotiations, undeterred by the BJP  taking oath to form government in a surprise early morning move in November, co-opting Sharad Pawar's nephew Ajit Pawar.

Eighty hours later, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his deputy Ajit Pawar resigned as the Supreme Court's deadline for a test of strength in the assembly approached.

Ajit Pawar took oath as Uddhav Thackeray's deputy today, along with Aaditya Thackeray and 34 other MLAs.

Though no portfolios have been announced today, there was speculation that Aaditya Thackeray could get education or environment, his prime areas of interest.

"I have no idea. It will depend on the Chief Minister and his deputy," Aditya Thackeray told NDTV.

"I did not even hear about my getting a minister's post from the Chief Minister. I heard it through the official channel," he confided. "There is a secrecy in these issues which is maintained at home, within the family," said the Sena leader, who added his mother's name to his during the vote of confidence and the oath ceremony.

Asked about it, Aaditya Thackeray said, "Politics keeps one grounded and the family gives us the culture. So the contributions of the family, parents and grandparents, should be acknowledged".