Senior NCP leader and state minister Chhagan Bhujbal voiced his distress at not being allowed to move to Parliament for the second day in a row.
He made it plain on Thursday that he was interested in the open Rajya Sabha seat, but the party chose to award it to Ajit Pawar’s wife, Sunetra Pawar, who is the deputy chief minister and party president. Bhujbal returned to the public eye on Friday, telling reporters that he had been considering running for the Lok Sabha from the Nashik seat but had decided against it because he felt disrespected.
He declared, “I was ready to contest from Nashik following a decision (taken in Delhi).” But after that, there was no further movement for a month. I decided to withdraw since our competitor parties had begun their campaigns in the interim. A fortnight later, we introduced the candidate of our partnership.
Before the Lok Sabha elections, Bhujbal brought up the controversy surrounding the Nashik seat. He claimed that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had advised state BJP leaders to consider him for the seat. But since Hemant Godse, the current MP, was a member of his party, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was determined to run for the Nashik seat. Even the BJP leaders’ involvement was ineffective, and Bhujbal chose to withdraw. Shinde fielded Godse, who lost to Rajabhau Waje of the Shiv Sena (UBT) by a margin of 1,62,001 votes.
According to a prominent NCP leader, Bhujbal was eager to move to Parliament due to Maharashtra’s political climate. The OBC leader had taken a firm stance against the agitation of Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil, who was demanding that Kunbi caste certificates be granted to Marathas to guarantee them reservations in government jobs and education. (The Maratha community’s Kunbi peasant sub-caste is granted a reservation from the OBC quota.) Jarange-Patil gave the neighbourhood instructions on how to beat Bhujbal wherever he stood because of his unwavering attitude, which made him a target for Maratha groups. In certain Maratha-dominated districts, Bhujbal was not even permitted to campaign.
The Maratha community voted against the ruling parties in the majority of Marathwada constituencies during the most recent Lok Sabha elections. The prospects for the ruling alliance in several other constituencies were also impacted.
Nine are OBCs and 26 are Marathas among the 48 recently elected MPs. The ruling coalition is looking into ways to appease the Maratha people. In light of this history, Bhujbal would much prefer to move to Parliament than stand in the September–October assembly elections.
The senior man in question stated, “This is the reason he was eager to run for the Nashik Lok Sabha seat.” After senior leader Praful Patel was elected to the Rajya Sabha from another seat in February, Bhujbal expressed interest in the seat, but Shinde put his foot down, and it did not materialise. But in the Lok Sabha elections, Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra lost to NCP (SP) candidate Supriya Sule in the Baramati constituency, therefore, the party leadership decided to grant her the seat.
When asked about the Rajya Sabha seat he was eyeing, Bhujbal said, “You don’t get everything that you want in the party.”
According to a member close to Bhujbal, the NCP leadership was not very excited about sending Bhujbal to Parliament since they believed he would then have direct access to the BJP leadership and might not follow party policy. He said, “There was also some concern that he would be a prime candidate for a ministerial position in the unity administration.
Bhujbal is expressing his dissatisfaction that the party leadership is rejecting his proposal. Ajit Pawar, the leader of the NCP, refuted this. “The party decided to offer Sunetra Pawar a Rajya Sabha ticket,” he declared on Friday. Some of our close friends as well as our rivals are spreading rumours that he is not pleased with the celebration. However, Bhujbal has stated emphatically that he is not.
