Chagan Bhujbal
Chhagan Bhujbal is in the political headlines after Devendra Fadnavis’ cabinet was expanded. Bhujbal, who was elected as MLA from Yeola on the NCP banner, was angry that he was not appointed as a minister. Bhujbal belongs to the OBC community and was once considered one of the biggest leaders in Maharashtra.
Bhujbal had direct access to Sharad Pawar, Balasaheb Thackeray and Sonia Gandhi, but politics had changed so much that Bhujbal now aspired to a ministerial post.
How did Chagan Bhujbal enter politics?
Bhujbal studied from Pune till his tenth year and spent his initial days selling vegetables with his mother in Byculla. In the 1960s, Bhujbal joined Bal Thackeray’s Maratha movement. When the Shiv Sena was formed, he became its founding member.
At the time of the Shiv Sena’s formation, Balasaheb Thackeray favored agitator leaders from Maharashtra. Physical strength benefits from this. He was elected twice as a councilor and mayor of Mumbai.
In 1985, Balasaheb Thackeray handed over the MLA ticket from Mazgaon seat to Bhujbal. Win by force. He was also elected as an MLA from the same seat in 1990.
In 1991, Bhujbal rebelled against the Shiv Sena and joined the Congress Party. When Bhujbal launched this rebellion, no leader in Bombay took the risk of opposing Balasaheb Thackeray.
Thereafter, Bhujbal joined the Congress Party and stayed in the old party for about 8 years. When NCP was formed in 1998, Bhujbal joined Sharad Pawar. Bhujbal was appointed deputy chief minister in Vilasrao Deshmukh’s government.
Thereafter, Bhujbal continued to serve as minister and deputy chief minister and worked with several chief ministers. These include the names of Sushil Kumar Shinde, Ashok Chavan, Prithviraj Chavan, Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde.
In 2023, Bhujbal left Sharad Pawar and joined Ajit. At that time, he was also given a seat in the Sindh cabinet along with Ajit. In 2024, Sharad Pawar started campaigning for his party from Bhujbal district. Despite this, Bhujbal won the election.
After the victory, Bhujbal was expected to join the cabinet, but he was not included in the Fadnavis cabinet.
Why and how are the armed forces marginalized?
1. Lack of credibility—— Bhujbal started his political career from the Shiv Sena and was the closest confidant of Balasaheb Thackeray. In 1991, when the Hindutva issue was becoming more prominent, Bhujbal rebelled against Thackeray’s views on caste. Bhujbal later joined the Congress party, but when Sharad Pawar formed his own party, he also joined the party.
In 2023, Bhujbal left Sharad Pawar and went with Ajit, while Bhujbal was considered the leader closest to Sharad in the NCP. It is said that during the NCP split in 2023, Bhujbal was kept in the dark about Sharad Pawar.
In fact, Sharad had given the responsibility of saving the team to Bhujbal, but at the last moment, Bhujbal also followed Ajit.
2. Loudness is also a reason—— Agitator leader Bhujbal still makes headlines for his remarks. While serving as a minister in Eknath Shinde’s government, Bhujbal openly sided with the OBCs and as a result, the entire government became a target of Maratha agitators.
And in 2023, Bhujbal made controversial remarks about the Brahmin community. Bhujbal once said that no one in the Brahmin community named his child Shivaji-Sambhaji. His remarks also caused a lot of uproar.
As a result of these controversies, the government gained notoriety.
3. Older age is also an important factor—— Chhagan Bhujbal is 77 years old. The Fadnavis cabinet has given special consideration to the issue of age. Most ministerial positions are only awarded to leaders aged 65-70. The oldest minister in the cabinet is Ganesh Naik (74) of the BJP.
It is said that since Bhujbal is over 75 years old, his leaves have been removed from the cabinet. Bhujbal hails from Nashik district, while Dadaji Bhuse and Narhari Jirwal serve as cabinet ministers. In this case, even the zone equations cannot fit the physical forces.
4. Corruption Allegations – In 2003, the Telji case caused a stir in Maharashtra and national politics. Tergi was accused of making money by selling fake stamps. Chhagan Bhujbal’s name also came up in this case, after which he had to leave his chair. Thereafter Bhujbal walked to the touchline.
In 2009, he was again in the cabinet, but this time he was also accused of fraud related to the construction of Sadan in Maharashtra. In 2016, ED also arrested Bhujbal.
According to the election affidavit, there are currently about three cases related to corruption in Bhujbal, which are being investigated by the ACB and ED.
