Am I a Toy?: NCP's Bhujbal Asks Party

Mumbai: After being denied cabinet berth in the Devendra Fadnavis-led government, disgruntled senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal on Tuesday slammed senior party leader Praful Patel and Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar asking whether he was a toy in their hands. Mr. Bhujbal also claimed that chief minister Devendra Fadnavis wanted him to be part of his cabinet. He said that he was upset not because of the ministerial berth but the way he has been humiliated.

Mr. Bhujbal is deliberating about his next move with his followers and supporters in Nashik. The senior NCP leader will also continue a deliberation on Wednesday with the supporters across the state.

Two days after the expansion of the Maharashtra cabinet, there is unease in all three parties. NCP and Shiv Sena leaders, who could not secure a cabinet berth, are openly expressing their unhappiness.

Mr. Bhujbal, one of the prominent OBC leaders of Maharashtra, has skipped the ongoing Winter Session of the Assembly and reached Nashik. The OBC leader met his supporters and announced that he would find out who denied him the ministerial berth even though the CM was in favour of his induction.

The senior NCP leader told his supporters that he would soon take a decision on the future course of action.

In Nashik, he told the reporters that the party has asked him to resign and go to Rajya Sabha. “I have rejected this offer as the election just concluded. I have sought time of a year to two. They (the party leadership) have asked me to hold a discussion over it. But they never held a meeting on this….I am not a toy in your hand and play as per your wish….I am not the kind of person who can bend as per your instruction,” Mr. Bhujbal said.

Speaking with the reporters, Mr. Bhujbal said, “I am informing my supporters what has happened (with me) in the last six to eight months. They have assured me that they will stand behind me whatever decision I take.”

Mr. Bhujbal further said that Fadnavis wanted him to become a part of the government. “BJP state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule told me that Fadnavis was insisting over your name till the last moment that I should be inducted,” he claimed.