Pune:

NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and disgruntled NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal on Friday shared a stage in Pune to mark the birth anniversary of legendary educationist and social reformer Savitribai Phule.

Speaking on the occasion, Bhujbal said many were “surprised” at the two sharing a stage but asserted “we will always come together for great personalities like Mahatma Phule, Shahu Maharaj and Babasaheb Ambedkar”.

The Nationalist Congress Party split in July 2023 after Ajit Pawar, Bhujbal and several others joined the Eknath Shinde government.

The NCP name and ‘clock’ symbol was given to the faction headed by Ajit Pawar, while the one under Sharad Pawar was christened NCP (SP). The two parties have been bitter rivals since.

Bhujbal has been upset with his party, headed by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, after he was not included in the Devendra Fadnavis cabinet. In the days following the swearing-in ceremony on December 15, Bhujbal had lashed out at the deputy CM over his non-inclusion.

Speaking at the event organised at Chakan’s Krushi Utpann Bazaar Samiti (APMC), NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar slammed the Union government for imposing duty on onion exports, which was greatly distressing farmers.

“Long ago, Mahatma Phule had spoken about the pain of these farmers. The Central government should follow the example of Mahatma Phule while taking decisions concerning farmers,” the former Union agriculture minister said.

Heaping praise on Mahatma Phule, Pawar said the social reformer promoted science and technology during his time and was a successful contractor who supplied building material for construction projects of the British government, including Pune’s Khadakwasla dam.

Bhujbal said the organisers took the right decision to invite Pawar as the process to build a grand memorial for Mahatma Phule and Savitribai Phule started when the latter was chief minister.

“Many are surprised that Pawar saheb and I have come together on one stage. I want to tell you, be it Mahatma Phule or Shahu Maharaj, Babasaheb Ambedkar or other great reformers, we will always come together for all these great people,” Bhujbhal asserted.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mumbai:

Nationalist Congress Party leader Chhagan Bhujbal’s clear and strong message that he is not happy at being left out of the Maharashtra government, has raised considerable interest in the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi camp. Not only has the Congress sent feelers to Mr Bhujbal, a comment by Uddhav Thackeray, chief of Shiv Sena UBT, has sparked speculation.

“I felt sad for Bhujbal. He is in touch with me, every now and then,” Mr Thackeray told reporters today.

Congress veteran Dr Nitin Raut, a five-time MLA from Nagpur North Assembly constituency and a prominent Dalit leader, said today that “a gross injustice” has been done with Mr Bhujbal and the OBC (Other Backward Classes)  community”.

“You (Bhujbal) have belatedly realised the method of these people to work against the OBCs and backwards classes. You must ponder about who you want to stay with and how… If a capable person like you is ready to work with us, then we are prepared to welcome you,” Mr Raut said.

Even the NCP faction led by Sharad Pawar has been loud in their expressions of sympathy. 

Senior party leader Jitendra Awhad said not including Mr Bhujbal in the cabinet is a move to “end” his political career.

“Looking at his age, temperament, his fight, he should have got justice. The Maratha-OBC divide was engineered by the (Eknath Shinde-led) government… Now, the same Bhujbal has been relegated to the rear seat,” he said. 

Mr Bhujbal has made it clear that he would take some action, though he has left everyone guessing on what it would be.

His “Jaha nahi chaina, waha nahi rehna (no staying where there is no peace)” comment has led to speculation that he might join the BJP or float his own party.

What he has made clear is that he is upset with the top leaders of his party — Ajit Pawar and Praful Patel.

“It was never about inclusion in the cabinet,” he said, while explaining how he was left out of the council of ministers despite Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis clearing his name. 

“The way I have been treated is objectionable. We just have to listen to the orders of three persons. There is no participation at all. We have no clue what is going on,” the NCP leader said.

Mr Bhujbal’s supporters within the NCP, meanwhile, have hit the streets. Protests were held in Pune and outside the bungalow of Ajit Pawar in Baramati.

Former ministers Bhujbal and Dilip Walse Patil of the NCP and Sudhir Mungantiwar and Vijaykumar Gavit of the BJP are among the prominent leaders who didn’t make it to the state cabinet.

Mumbai:

Workers of Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party faction blocked NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal from entering the polling booth in Maharashtra’s Yevla constituency today. Mr Bhujbal is contesting the assembly election from this constituency in Nashik which is home to one of the biggest onion wholesale markets in India.

The NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) workers are upset over Mr Bhujbal switching allegiance to the Mahayuti alliance comprising the BJP, the Shiv Sena and the NCP. The workers were also heard shouting how Mr Bhujbal was being allowed to enter the booth more than once.

While switching loyalty to the Mahayuti, Mr Bhujbal had denied claims in a book by journalist Rajdeep Sardesai that he made the move to duck an Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigation against him for alleged money laundering.

“I have worked in Yevla for 20 years and helped the place develop in water management and infrastructure. My caste and religion is only development. Even my party believes the same. The Opposition has failed to criticise me on my work, and so they talk about caste,” Mr Bhujbal told NDTV.

“Caste consolidation doesn’t work because people here have faith in the development I’ve brought. They don’t see my caste,” he added.

In July 2023, NCP leader Ajit Pawar and MLAs loyal to him broke away from the party and joined hands with the BJP and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena to become part of the Mahayuti government.

NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) spokesperson Mahesh Tapase said it was appalling to see senior leaders confessing to have joined the ruling party to evade investigation. “Such admissions only reinforce the belief that the BJP operates as a ‘washing machine’ where corrupt leaders enter and emerge spotless,” he said.

The voter turnout in Maharashtra was 45.5 per cent till 3 pm.

In the Mahayuti alliance, the BJP is contesting 149 seats, Shiv Sena 81 seats, and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP has fielded candidates in 59 constituencies.

From the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) combine, the Congress has fielded 101 candidates, Shiv Sena (UBT) 95, and NCP (SP) 86 candidates.

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange on Monday accused Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of supporting his cabinet colleague and NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal’s demand for nullifying the Kunbi evidence in Maharashtra.

Addressing a rally in Nanded, Jarange indicated that candidates of the ruling Mahayuti will be defeated in all 288 seats in the upcoming assembly elections.

“I challenge Devendra Fadnavis. You are giving power to Chhagan Bhujbal. We don’t have a problem with it. But you are making OBCs stand against the Marathas. You should not listen to Chhagan Bhujbal and damage the BJP in the state,” said Jarange, who has been demanding the reservation for the Maratha community by recognising them as Kunbis under the OBC grouping.

“Give us the reservation of our share. But if you listen to Chhagan Bhujbal, your 288 candidates (in upcoming assembly polls) will be defeated. We know that we did not get anything since 1980. But then why are they (Fadnavis) repeating the same mistake? When he gave 13 per cent reservation to Marathas, the community gave 106 MLAs to BJP,” he said.

Jarange alleged the government has said on paper that 57 lakh evidences of ‘Kunbi’ are found.

“Even if we consider three people getting benefit from one piece of evidence, 1.5 crore Marathas went into quota and Bhujbal calls me mad even after this,” he claimed.

Jarange alleged that the agitation (of the OBC community) commenced when Marathas were staging protests for reservation, which means the state is supporting OBC agitators and wants violence.

“We want to win this fight (of agitation) by peace. Marathas and OBCs in villages should remain peaceful,” he added.

He accused the government of conspiring against him.

“They tried to attack me and also appointed an SIT (Special Investigation Team) to put me behind bars. But I am not afraid. Officers from the Maratha community are also being threatened now,” Jarange alleged.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

The NDA in Maharashtra may not have it as easy as it did in 2014 and 2019, when it won 41 of 48 Lok Sabha seats, because of a sympathy wave in favour of Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar, a senior leader of the alliance, Chhagan Bhujbal has said. 

In an exclusive interview with NDTV on Saturday, Mr Bhujbal also opened up on his decision to withdraw from contention for the Nashik Lok Sabha seat and shared his thoughts on whether the NDA’s slogan for winning 400 seats – ‘ab ki baar 400 paar‘ – has made voters believe that the Constitution will be amended.

Maharashtra’s already interesting politics became more complex in 2022 when Eknath Shinde and a group of MLAs staged a rebellion, which led to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government collapsing. Mr Shinde went on to align with the BJP and take oath as the chief minister, splitting the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena into two.

A year later, a similar script played out in the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, when his nephew Ajit Pawar split the party and also joined hands with the BJP, becoming a deputy chief minister in the process. The Maharashtra political landscape, thus, now has two Shiv Senas and two NCPs – under very similar but different names – pitted against each other. 

When Mr Bhujbal, who was at the forefront of the rebellion in the NCP with Ajit Pawar, was asked about the impact of this in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, he said in Hindi, “I believe there is a sympathy wave – the way Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena split and a faction of the NCP switched sides. This is showing in their rallies. It doesn’t seem like they are failing the way they did in 2014 and 2019.” 

In both of those Lok Sabha elections, the BJP had fought in an alliance with the undivided Shiv Sena and the parties had won in 23 and 18 constituencies respectively.

“The people’s faith is, however, still in Narendra Modi and they want him to form a strong government,” he added.

The Maharashtra minister turned slightly emotional when he was asked about the contest in Sharad Pawar’s bastion of Baramati between his daughter Supriya Sule and Ajit Pawar’s wife, Sunetra. 

“Even for me, it is saddening, that people who have lived together in the same house for so many years… What is happening is something that many people are not liking. Whose fault it is, that is a different matter. But it would have been very good if this had not happened,” he said. 

Slogan Hurting NDA?

On the opposition’s charge, also made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, that the NDA is seeking 400 seats because it wants to amend the Constitution and whether the “ab ki baar 400 paar” slogan has hurt the NDA alliance, Mr Bhujbal said, “The opposition’s campaign on this has been a strong one. People think the slogan is about changing the Constitution. And a BJP MP in Karnataka (Anantkumar Hegde) had also said this.”

“PM Modi has, however, said several times that the Constitution is strong and it can’t be changed even by BR Ambedkar himself. But this message is being given to the people. The impact will be seen only when the ballot boxes are opened,” he added.

Withdrawal From Contest

Nashik has been one of the most contentious constituencies as the BJP, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s NCP try to work out a seat-sharing arrangement and Mr Bhujbal pulled out of the race for the ticket on Friday. The candidate is yet to be announced and a tussle between the allies seems to be underway, with conflicting remarks being made by BJP leader Pankaja Munde and chief minister Shinde.  

Mr Bhujbal said he had not asked for the ticket but was told by other leaders in the NCP during Holi that he would contest from Nashik. This, he said, was conveyed to him after a late-night meeting between the allies in Delhi where seats were being discussed one by one instead of in blocks for each party. 

The minister said Mr Shinde also wanted the seat for the Shiv Sena and that he agreed to contest because Nashik is his base and he and his son have been MLAs from there. His nephew, Sameer Bhujbal, was also an MP from the seat. 

Stating that he got a lot of support from the people because of the development work he had done, Mr Bhujbal said he was surprised because his name was not declared from the seat for three weeks.

“When Narayan Rane’s name was also declared (for Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg) and mine wasn’t, I figured they don’t want to do it. That’s when I said I don’t want to fight from the seat. If I have to contest, I want to do so with respect. I know my status. I don’t like asking for tickets. The only time I asked for a ticket was from (Shiv Sena founder) Bal Thackeray for the municipal corporation in Mumbai in 1970,” he recalled.

“After that I have been involved even in ticket distribution. So I thought waiting for so long is not right for me. So I felt bad, and decided not to contest,” he said.