MUMBAI, June 10 -- The BJP will, in all likelihood, not return the finance portfolio to its ally, the NCP, led by deputy chief minister Sunetra Pawar. The party will, instead, offer its junior alliance partner either the energy or rural development portfolio. With the monsoon session of the state legislature scheduled to begin on June 22, the NCP is stepping up pressure to get back the finance portfolio, taken over by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis after the death of NCP chief and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar. Fadnavis also presented the FY 2026-27 budget as finance minister in March this year. The NCP, at core committee meetings held recently, decided to push for the finance department to be returned to it. Party leaders have decided to meet Fadnavis and urge him to hand over the portfolio at the earliest. They said the NCP held the portfolio even when it was part of the Congress- and Shiv Sena-led governments in the past. It had been allotted the department when it joined the Mahayuti government in July 2023. State NCP chief Sunil Tatkare said on Monday, "Senior party leaders are planning to meet chief minister Devendra Fadnavis soon to discuss key political issues with him. The finance department is at the top of the agenda for us." The BJP leadership, however, is unlikely to concede the department to the NCP. The party is likely to offer the NCP another department in lieu of finance. "Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis always wanted the BJP to retain the finance department but had to concede it to Ajit Pawar after some hard bargaining during the formation of the government. It was a precondition set by Ajit Pawar when he joined the Mahayuti government, after walking away from the (undivided) NCP," said a BJP leader. "However, political equations have changed after Ajit Pawar's death. The finance department needs to be handled with an iron hand in view of the state's weak financial position. The chief minister is expected to convey this to the NCP while reshuffling portfolios," he added. The BJP leader pointed out that the finance minister not only controls the state's finances but also plays a key role in allocation of funds to parties and their MLAs. "After the chief minister, only the finance minister has the power to summon any bureaucrat for a meeting and has a say in every proposal," he added. The chief minister is also expected to take a decision on filling two vacant cabinet berths, one each from the BJP and NCP, unfilled from the share they received on the basis of their respective strengths in the alliance government....