Split by Senas, linked by MIDC row: Uddhav loyalist Subhash Desai and ‘rebel’ son Bhushan

A veteran Sena leader, Subhash, 80, is known to be a close lieutenant of Thackerays. He had been an associate of Bal Thackeray since the latter founded the Sena in the sixties.

Subhash is among the rare old-time Sena leaders who managed to retain his position in the inner circle of Uddhav when he took control of the party more than a decade ago. Known as a strategist, he was one of the few leaders from the Sena’s old guard, who managed to keep himself relevant and close to Uddhav following the demise of Bal Thackeray in November 2012.

A three-time MLA, Subhash has not won any Assembly election since 2009, but he was still inducted as a Sena minister and allotted the crucial industry portfolio in the BJP-Sena government during 2014-2019 as well as in the previous Uddhav-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

Hailing from Goregaon, considered to be among the Sena strongholds, Subhash lost the 2014 election from the constituency to the BJP’s Vidya Thakur, when both parties had contested against each other. The Uddhav-led Sena then got Subhash elected as an MLC, even as the party named him as one of its nominees in the cabinet, headed by the BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis, as the industries minister.

A low-profile businessman, Bhushan, in his late 40s now, is not known to be active in political or social spheres. He runs two companies, of which one is related to food industry and the other to infrastructure.

Bhushan however figures on the website of Goregaon’s Prabodhan organisation, where his name is mentioned as an executive committee member without a photograph. Prabodhan was founded by Subhash Desai.

Bhushan was also in the news a few years ago after he bought an apartment worth Rs 33 crore in a Juhu highrise in Mumbai.

Known for operating from behind the scenes, Bhushan had been on the radar of the then principal Opposition BJP during the MVA regime. The BJP then used to allege that Bhushan was calling the shots in the industries department headed by his father.

About three months after it was formed following the collapse of the Uddhav government, in September 2022, the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government stayed over 191 Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) land allotments made during the MVA regime when Subhash was the industries minister. While the new dispensation later lifted the stay, it was then said that the government was probing alleged irregularities in these land allotments.

During the winter session of the state Assembly in December 2022, BJP MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar was among the ruling party’s MLAs who had raised the demand to probe Bhushan.

“Around 4,14,000 square metre land of the MIDC  reserved for industrial use was converted for residential purposes, which is illegal. It cost Rs 3,109 crore to the state exchequer, which is the market value of these lands. This was done during Covid-19 period when people were searching for beds, oxygen and remdesivir. We demand an inquiry against Bhushan Subhash Desai, who did this. It should be probed as to whether the money involved in this reached Matoshri?” Bhatkhalkar had then alleged while speaking to reporters outside the Assembly.

Bhatkhalkar also said the current industries minister Uday Samant had announced that he will probe the matter. Samant is one of the key aides of CM Shinde, whose rebellion toppled the Uddhav government with the support of the BJP.

However, barely three months down the line, Bhushan joined the stage with CM Shinde and took a saffron flag as the latter welcomed him into his party fold.

“Seeing the constructive and progressive work we are doing, he (Bhushan) joined us. Everyone has their own opinion. He joined us on his own. There was no pressure on him,” Shinde told the press conference.

On his part, Bhushan said, “It is Shinde who is taking forward Balasaheb’s thoughts and dreams. I trust him and I have experienced how he works. I have taken the decision after seeing him and being inspired by his functioning.”

When asked whether there was any pressure on him as he faced allegations of corruption in the MIDC when his father was the industries minister, Bhushan said it was his “personal choice” to join the Shinde Sena.

However, now the Uddhav Sena fired salvos at Bhushan and the Shinde-Fadnavis dispensation over the MIDC row.

Sena (UBT) MLA and Uddhav’s son, Aaditya Thackeray, in a veiled reference to the MIDC corruption charges against Bhushan, said: “Those who want to go to the washing machine to get themselves cleaned, must go. But Subhash Desai is still with us and will not leave us come what may. Bhushan was not with us and he can join whoever he wishes to.”

Another Uddhav Sena MLA, Vaibhav Naik, said, “Bhushan must be under pressure as there could be probe initiated against him for misusing his father’s ministership for himself. He did no work for the party or Sena MLAs.”