Several recent moves of Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal, a senior leader of the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), have led to talks that his discontent within the ruling Mahayuti alliance is growing. Bhujbal has defended NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) MLA Jitendra Awhad for accidentally tearing a poster with a photo of B R Ambedkar while protesting against the Eknath Shinde-led state government’s proposal for inclusion of Manusmriti verses in the school curriculum. The BJP and even the NCP (Ajit Pawar) have gone after Awhad over the incident. Earlier, while campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls, Bhujbal said that there was a “sympathy wave” for NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray across Maharashtra. Once known as Sharad Pawar’s trusted aide, Bhujbal's joining hands with his nephew Ajit last year had upset Pawar so much that he chose to hold one of his first rallies after the NCP’s split in Bhujbal’s Assembly constituency Yeola in Nasik district. A defiant Bhujbal, who had then bitterly criticised Pawar, seems to have changed his tone significantly over the last year, and is now increasingly taking a stance that is at odds with his party as well as the Mahayuti government despite being a cabinet minister. It all started with the Maratha quota agitation launched in September 2023 by activist Manoj Jarange-Patil, demanding Kunbi (OBC) status for Marathas. The agitation quickly spread like wildfire, especially in the state's Marathwada region. Bhujbal, who belongs to the Mali OBC caste, vocally opposed the demand. Despite being a minister, he led counter rallies of the OBC community, and even criticised the government for acceding to Jarange-Patil's demands. During the election for six Rajya Sabha seats from Maharashtra this February, Bhujbal was apparently expecting that either he or his nephew Sameer Bhujbal — the NCP’s Mumbai unit chief and former Lok Sabha MP — would get a ticket. According to sources, he had even raised the demand within the party. However, Ajit's party chose Praful Patel as its candidate. After the announcement of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, all three parties in the Mahayuti alliance — the BJP, the Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the NCP — had a bickering over the choice of its candidate for the Nashik seat. According to sources, after Bhujbal’s name was cleared by the BJP leadership, the ticket went to incumbent Hemant Godse of the Shinde Sena in the wake of CM Shinde’s protest. Sources within the NCP said Bhujbal, who had begun poll preparations, felt let down after leaders of his own party, Ajit and Sunil Tatkare, did not insist for Bhujbal's ticket, and instead got busy with their own elections in the Baramati and Raigad seats, respectively. Since then, Bhujbal’s statements have increasingly defied the party stand, as he has repeatedly expressed sympathy for his former NCP (SP)’s colleagues, now in the Opposition. In an interview to a news channel during the poll campaign, he said, “I believe there is a sympathy wave over the way Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena split, and an NCP faction switched sides. This is showing in their rallies.” His recent statement — in which he countered the BJP’s “400 paar” slogan — also triggered a major row. “The Dalit community feels the ‘400 par’ slogan was to change the Constitution. Even after they (BJP) tried to clear the air, I am sure all of you have felt the impact of this slogan during the elections,” Bhujbal said at an NCP event after the fifth phase of polling, which was the final phase for Maharashtra. Earlier, Bhujbal publicly squabbled over the seat allotments for the upcoming state Assembly polls, alleging that the BJP has reduced the number of seats promised to the NCP. “When we came, we were told that we would get 80-90 Assembly seats. The kind of dispute that took place (over Lok Sabha seat allocations) should not happen again. We should tell them that we must get what was discussed,” he said. Without naming anyone, senior BJP leader and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis quickly tried to play down Bhujbal's allegation, saying that leaders of all three parties will together decide the seat-sharing formula. “BJP being the big brother will get more seats, but we will ensure that the two other parties are well-respected,” he said. During the Lok Sabha poll campaigning, Bhujbal came out in support of Uddhav, after the BJP held the Opposition leader responsible for the Ghatkopar hoarding collapse tragedy that killed nine people. “It is our government. The BMC is currently under the government. How can Uddhav Thackeray be blamed?” Bhujbal asked, embarrassing the BJP. Bhujbal has now also emerged as one of the main critics of a government proposal to include Manusmriti in the state school curriculum. A few days ago, Jitendra Awhad landed in controversy at a protest, where while burning the copies of Manusmriti he erroneously tore a poster that had a picture of Ambedkar. Even as the NCP protested on roads against Awhad, Bhujbal asserted that his former colleague’s intention was good, as he had gone to burn the Manusmriti. “He tore the poster without seeing it. He has apologised for it. The core issue is opposing Manusmriti. This should be the focus, not Awhad,” Bhujbal said. So far, the NCP leadership has largely ignored Bhujbal’s increasing defiance. After his release from jail in 2018 — where he was sent in a case of alleged irregularities in the construction of Maharashtra Sadan, that is being probed by the Enforcement Directorate — Bhujbal had kept a low profile for some time. Later, he was inducted into the Uddhav-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government involving the Uddhav Sena, the then undivided NCP and the Congress. His recent posturings reflect a fresh churn in the NCP in the run-up to the Assembly polls slated for October this year.
