Both the parties involved in a game plan to cut Chhagan Bhujbal to size.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Chhagan Bhujbal and former Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra finds himself at the crossroads as far as his political career is concerned. Ever since the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had slapped graft charges against him in the Maharashtra Sadan scam, he feels that he is being isolated by the party. Senior NCP leader and Party’s National President Sharad Pawar has been maintaining a safe distance from him. Meanwhile, there were also reports about Bhujbal rejoining Shiv Sena which he denied later.
The ACB inquiry is an administrative process through bureaucratic set up, though that is initiated with political vendetta by then Congress and now carried forward by the BJP government. If Bhujbal had maintained shrewd silence over so called ‘clean chit’ by the investigating agency, because he don’t wants to provoke his opponents to be awaken and retaliate. His over enthusiasm of his being freed of accusations of Corruption might invite trouble for Bhujbal. So, silence would be powerful solution for Bhujbal. He is aware of the lobby in the other parties as well as within the party which is working overtime against him.
On the other hand, State PWD Minister Chandrakant Patil announced that Bhujbal has not been given a clean chit in the Maharashtra Sadan scam.
“No clean chit has been given to Bhujbal. The ACB probe (against Bhujbal) is in progress,” Patil said.
Even, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis too had denied reports that the senior NCP leader had been exonerated in the scam — related to the construction of Maharashtra Sadan in New Delhi — by the probe agency.
BJP is aware that neither NCP nor Pawars are on Bhujbal’s side. At this moment, priority for Pawar is his nephew’s establishment and future in the party than any other leader. Pawar wants to groom his daughter Surpriya Sule so that she can take charge of the party. He wants to promote Jitendra Awhad as NCP’s new OBC face as Chhagan Bhujbal who is facing various probes in scams. Besides, Bhujbal is a potential chief minister candidate with mass appeal and a hurdle in way of Ajit Pawar and Supriya Sule, who are likely to be pitched as the CM candidate in the next assembly election.
Thus, Bhujbal is being sidelined by his own party and leaders are trying to eliminate his political existence. Still, his strong connection to grassroot level and mass base support among OBCs, is sort of a challenge for BJP if he continues with his political career.
