A day after accusing Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar of forcing him to resign as state’s deputy chief minister over allegations in the multi-thousand crore Telgi scam, state minister and his former close aide Chhagan Bhujbal on Monday faced protests from Pawar supporters in Pune. Though Bhujbal did not make a public statement, his office conveyed that he is firm with the points raised in the public rally in Beed. “I merely expressed my regret and did not make any allegations on anyone. Those who are protesting should give answers to questions I raised,” he reportedly said. On Sunday, Bhujbal recalled how he was asked to resign by Pawar from the Home Minister post in 2003 owing to Telgi scam and went on to narrate how it was him who arrested Telgi and it was unjust to remove him from the post. “The CBI chargesheet does not even have my name,” he said. He also said nobody sought Sharad Pawar’s resignation in the 1990s when allegations were levelled against him by some people, including GR Khairnar, then deputy municipal commissioner of Bombay (now Mumbai) civic body. Sharad Pawar was the chief minister of Maharashtra from March 1993 to March 1995 — his third stint — when Khairnar, known as “demolition man” for taking action on illegal encroachments in Mumbai, had raised certain allegations.
