NCP leader Dhananjay Munde suggested that the next chief minister of Maharashtra will be from the Sharad Pawar-led party.

Speaking at a public meeting in Parbhani city on Saturday, Munde said the Social Justice department in the incumbent Shiv Sena-led MVA government became prestigious because of his efforts.

“If a question arises tomorrow regarding whom to hand over the social justice portfolio……whoever would be the next chief minister….and the CM will be ours (NCP’s) only. The CM will say that let the social justice portfolio remain with us (NCP). This department has earned so much reputation,” Munde said.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is the key constituent in the Uddhav Thackeray-led dispensation, which completed two-and-a-half years in power only last month.

Munde said he had worked efficiently as the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council in the past.

The NCP holds the important portfolios of Finance, led by Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, and Home in the state government.

“Earlier, NCP chief Sharad Pawar had appointed me as the opposition leader (in the Maharashtra Legislative Council). No matter how stable and powerful, I had shaken the then government,” he added.