Sharad Pawar faces heat in NCP battle of attrition as Bhujbal takes off gloves to go after him

Bhujbal was miffed with the Sena leadership for denying him the post of the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Assembly. An OBC leader belonging to the Mali community, he was also upset since Thackeray opposed the reservation policy recommended by the Mandal Commission.

On June 10, 1999 when Pawar founded his separate outfit, the NCP, after quitting the Congress following differences over Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origin, Bhujbal was among the first of those leaders who rallied behind him.

Bhujbal became a close aide of Pawar in the NCP, with their relationship based on mutual trust and respect. With the NCP being dominated by the Maratha leaders, Pawar saw in Bhujbal a promising OBC leader whose oratorical skill marked with theatrics appealed to the masses and helped the then fledgling party gain traction.

From being the state NCP president to two-time deputy chief minister with portfolios like home, public works department and food and civil supplies, Bhujbal got a host of key assignments from Pawar.

So, on July 2 this year, when Bhujbal, 75, chose to join Ajit Pawar in his rebellion against Pawar and join the Eknath Shinde Sena-BJP government, it stunned many in the NCP.

Bhujbal has meanwhile taken charge as the minister for food and civil supplies in the coalition government. His decision to throw his weight behind Ajit was seen as a move to strike a peace deal with the formidable BJP, which has been ruling the Centre since 2014.

Bhujbal was arrested in March 2016 on charges of graft and money laundering in a case probed by the central agencies. He remained in prison until 2018, when he was granted bail.

During the tenure of the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by Uddhav Thackeray, a court discharged Bhujbal and seven others, including his son Pankaj Bhujbal and nephew Sameer Bhujbal, in the Maharashtra Sadan case.

When Devendra Fadnavis became the CM in the BJP-Sena coalition government in 2014, its first decision was to ensure that the Maharashtra Sadan case is taken to its logical conclusion. In 2015, the Anti Corruption Bureau filed a case against Bhujbal, who was accused of taking kickbacks for the project as the PWD minister in the Congress-NCP coalition government. Bhujbal denied any wrongdoing in the matter.

Although the BJP was at the forefront in this graft campaign against Bhujbal, his aides often lamented that some NCP leaders were hand in glove with the saffron party in a bid to clip his wings to thwart his chief ministerial prospects. This was also attributed to the power struggle between Maratha and OBC leaders within the NCP. To safeguard his position within the party, Bhujbal had even floated a body Samata Parishad to consolidate himself as an OBC leader.

In May this year, when Pawar announced his resignation as the NCP president, it was Bhujbal, among other party leaders, who persuaded him to withdraw it. Bhujbal later declared Pawar’s decision that the party would have two working presidents, Supriya Sule and Praful Patel.

However, at the Beed rally last Sunday, Bhujbal, for the first time, took on Pawar. “Pawar saheb took my resignation as deputy CM in Telgi scam. I was then home minister. My resignation was sought based on baseless allegation which were not proved,” he said, adding “In 1992-94 serious corruption charges were levelled by then deputy municipal commissioner GR Khairnar against Pawar. But he did not step down.” Abdul Karim Telgi was a prime accused in a multi-crore fake stamp paper scam. The BJP had then alleged that Telgi had got the patronage of Bhujbal.

Bhujbal’s scathing attack on him does not augur well for the 82-year-old NCP chief, who is looking to rebuild his party following the split caused by Ajit’s rebellion.

A senior cabinet minister who knows both Pawar and Bhujbal closely said, “Bhujbal had never spoken against Pawar. This is the first time he raised unsettling questions against him.” Elaborating its reasons, he said, “Following a split in the NCP, Pawar held his first rally at Yeola, Bhujbal’s constituency, in July. In his speech there, Pawar regretted giving tickets to Bhujbal and apologised to people.”

While the Ajit faction appeared to be showing restraint in attacking Pawar, the latter has been holding rallies in rebel leaders’ constituencies to gun for them.

State BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule said, “Pawar saheb is a senior respected leader. Unfortunately, he has taken the first move to take the battle to his once party leaders and MLAs’ constituencies. You cannot make charges and get away. You will have to bear the consequences.”

In his speech at the Beed rally, Bhujbal also sought to expose Pawar by claiming how he had sent senior party leaders for alliance discussions with the BJP leadership several times.

A Bhujbal aide said, “If Pawar attacks them personally they have to retaliate. Bhujbal, Munde are soft targets. Why is Pawar silent on Ajit? He (Ajit) was the first one to expose his uncle’s (Pawar) flip-flop over BJP at Mumbai rally in July. He even pointed out how NCP could not get majority despite leadership of Pawar.”

Bawankule said, “Pawar avoids attacking Ajit to keep Baramati Lok Sabha constituency intact for daughter Supriya Sule. He does not want votes to divide in Baramati.” adding that it was not surprising that Pawar and Supriya acknowledged Ajit as their leader.

On his part, Ajit continues to tread cautiously. On the Pawar-Bhujbal face-off, he said, “I am not seized of the details. But we must ensure not to use words that would hurt others.”