Senior Shiv Sena leader Subhash Desai, who had lost Maharashtra Assembly elections on his home turf of suburban Goregaon to BJP's Vidya Thakur, will be her senior colleague in the Devendra Fadanavis-led government.
While Desai, a close confidant of party chief Uddhav Thackeray, has been given Industries portfolio, Thakur is made the Mos for Women & Child Development, Food & Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection and Food& Drugs Administration.
"Subhash ji is one of the senior-most party leaders of Shiv Sena. I am not at all hurt that he (Desai) will now have a larger status in the government. It was a joint decision of both parties to induct him in the government," Thakur told reporters here when asked about the development.
Thakur had defeated Desai by a narrow margin of votes.
