Dhananjay Munde resigns: Who will be the NCP’s next OBC face?

Party insiders have told HT, Pawar has two options now – to keep the post vacant till Munde’s name is cleared or bring Bhujbal back

Mumbai: The question on deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar’s mind right now is who will fill the berth vacated by Dhananjay Munde. Until now, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has had the choice of only two leaders from the Other Backward Classes (OBC) community in the cabinet – Munde and the seasoned Chhagan Bhujbal. However, after the Mahayuti returned to power in December 2024, Bhujbal was given the short shrift.

Mumbai, India - June 17, 2019: Chhagan Bhujbal during the monsoon session at Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai, India, on Monday, June 17, 2019. (Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/Hindustan Times) (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT Photo)

Party insiders have told HT, Pawar has two options now – to keep the post vacant till Munde’s name is cleared or bring Bhujbal back. Keeping the space vacant would also send a message to the OBC community that Munde may be re-inducted, if he is not found guilty.

Munde, a two-term MLA and former leader of opposition in legislative council, held the food and civil supplies portfolio. He belongs to the Vanjari community, one of the castes in the OBC community, and represented Marathwada for NCP in the state cabinet.

Bhujbal, 77, has been an aggressive OBC leader. When he was not given a ministerial berth, he expressed his displeasure openly not sparing his own party president – he said at the time that while chief minister Devendra Fadnavis was keen on inducting him among the new council of ministers, Pawar put a spoke in the wheels.

It is only after much persuasion that Bhujbal agreed to become a part of the party’s core committee when Munde became embroiled in the controversy over Santosh Deshmukh’s murder.

A senior NCP leader told HT: “Bhujbal seems to be the obvious choice if Ajit dada wants him; if not, then the party will have to look for a non-OBC face to fill the spot.” To that end, Prakash Solanke’s name is doing the rounds. Solanke, a Maratha, and five-term MLA belongs to Beed’s Majalgaon assembly constituency.

Other contenders are former ministers Sanjay Bansode and Anil Bhaidas Patil. While Bansode is a Dalit, Patil is a Maratha. Both were ministers in the previous Mahayuti government. Bansode belongs to Latur, in Marathwada, while Patil represents Amalner, in Jalgaon district.

“Ajit dada is not revealing anything now. He is likely to discuss the issue with seniors before taking a final call,” said a senior NCP leader.