Maharashtra Cabinet: Will Chhagan Bhujbal quit Ajit Pawar’s NCP? Rumors swirl around OBC leader | Mint
Senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal has openly lashed out at party chief Ajit Pawar, voicing his dissatisfaction with the way the party is being run. Bhujbal, who is miffed over being denied a ministerial berth, has reportedly hinted at pursuing an independent path.
“Where peace is absent, there is no reason to remain),” Bhujbal told reporters on Tuesday alleging that he was not inducted into the Cabinet even though Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was keen on his inclusion.
The expansion of cabinet in Devendra Fadnavis-led Maharashtra government last week has triggered resentment among former ministers and some lawmakers from all the three Mahayuti allies – the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
Governor P C Radhakrishnan administered the oath to39 new ministersin Fadanvis’ cabinet on Sunday. The ceremony took place just a day before the start of the winter session of the state legislature on December 16.
Bhujbal was among 10 ministers who were dropped from the new council of ministers, which has 16 new faces.
Bhujbal, a former minister, has been expressing his resentment openly since then. The former food and civil supplies minister had expressed his disappointment and skipped the winter session of the state legislature.
Sensing his political maneuvers, Bhujbal has found favours in the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi camp. “I felt sad for Bhujbal. He is in touch with me, every now and then,” said Uddhav Thackeray, chief of Shiv Sena UBT.
Congress veteran Nitin Raut, a five-time MLA from Nagpur North Assembly constituency also said that ‘a gross injustice’ has been done with Bhujbal and the OBC (Other Backward Classes)community, according to a report in NDTV.
Not the first time
Bhujbal, 77, who belongs to the Mali community, is known for disgruntlement. In 2023, Bhujbal’s statements during the Maratha agitation for reservations had not gone down very well with Mahayuti government led by Eknath Shinde. Bhujbal—then a minister—openly targeted Maratha leader Manoj Jarange Patil.
He offered to quit from the cabinet on November 16, 2023.
Even ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Bhujbal reportedly wanted to contest from Nashik. However, NCP chief Ajit Pawar left the seat for Shiv Sena’s Hemant Godse, leaving Bhujbal upset. He also hoped to be nominated to Rajya Sabha, but Ajit Pawar picked his wife Sunetra Pawar instead.
After its poor performance in the Lok Sabha election, there were rumours that Bhujbal was planning to defect to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT).
Where peace is absent, there is no reason to remain.
An NCP stalwart, Bhujbal is a former Deputy CM and has held key portfolios in both the previous Mahayuti and MVA governments. He is also regarded as one of the tallest leaders of the OBC community in the region.
