Why Bhujbal landed unannounced at Sharad Pawar’s home
A day after he suggested that Sharad Pawar was out to “set Maharashtra on fire” over the quota issue, Chhagan Bhujbal landed at his former boss’s Mumbai home
A day after he suggested--without naming him-- that Sharad Pawar was out to “set Maharashtra on fire” over the quota issue, Chhagan Bhujbal landed at his former boss’s Mumbai home and requested the 83-year-old Pawar to take the lead in defusing tensions in the state.
“I told Pawarsaheb that he is a senior politician and it was under his tenure as chief minister that the state government gave reservation to the OBCs. Now since the atmosphere in the state is tense, he should take initiative to stop this. There is sharp divide between Marathas and OBCs,” Bhujbal told the media after his meeting. He claimed that Pawar assured him that he would speak to chief minister Eknath Shinde on the matter. However, neither Sharad Pawar himself nor his party confirmed Bhujbal’s claim on Monday.
Bhujbal’s conciliatory visit to Sharad Pawar’s home surprised many in the government especially after his stinging attack on him at a rally in Baramati on Sunday. Bhujbal had claimed that Pawar, against without naming him, had derailed an all-party meeting called by CM Shinde to resolve the standoff between the Marathas and the OBCs. Her claimed at the Baramati rally that opposition leaders had got calls to not attend the CM’s meeting.
On Monday, when he landed unannounced at Pawar’s home, he was made to wait for an hour before he could meet him. Bhujbal subsequently told the media that
Pawar said it was difficult for him to attend the meeting called by CM Shinde since he did not know what promises had been made by the government to Maratha leader Manoj Jarange-Patil and the OBC leader Laxman Hake who has been opposing the demand to include Marathas in the OBC quota.
“I told him that senior leaders from all the political parties would come if you (Sharad Pawar) call a meeting about the reservation issue,” Bhujbal told the media.
Damage control or tightrope walking?
This olive branch prompted state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule to say he hoped that Bhujbal would not take any step that add to the troubles of the ruling alliance.
But then, the 76-year-old politician, a master of political flip-flops, has often baffled his colleagues including in Ajit Pawar’s breakaway NCP of which Bhujbal is a part. “There could be an impression in the Maratha community that Pawar was being targeted,” said one of his party colleagues on Bhujbal’s speech in Baramati. “More so after our candidate lost badly in the Lok Sabha.”
Monday’s visit, say others, is in line with his political career. The former theatre actor, known for his fiery oratory is known for his political nimbleness. A close associate of Balasaheb Thackeray in the 1960s, he shifted to the Congress before allying with Sharad Pawar in 1999. In 2023, when Ajit Pawar broke ranks with his uncle to join the government, Bhujbal went along with him.
In the post-Mandal landscape, Bhujbal tried to fashion himself as an OBC leader.
When Pawar adopted the Mandal recommendation in the state during his tenure as chief minister, Bhujbal was the government’s OBC face. While with Sharad Pawar he twice became deputy chief minister and remained a vocal critic of the BJP and Narendra Modi. However, his jail stint on corruption charges made him rethink his political priorities.
Following the rise of Marathas activist Jarange-Patil, Bhujbal became the only political leader of some clout who opposed his demands and became a voice for the OBCs in the state. In this he was encouraged by the BJP. However, the disastrous results of the 2024 Lok Sabha for the ruling alliance in Maharashtra, has made everyone wary of taking on the Marathas ahead of this year’s assembly elections.
Following the Mahayuti’s debacle in Lok Sabha elections, Bhujbal began expressing his unhappiness with the ruling parties openly. He even praised Pawar pointing out that people stood by him in the election even though most of his leaders had quit the party. There has been speculation since that he might leave the NCP (Ajit Pawar) to either go back to the Shiv Sena (UBT) or to Sharad Pawar. But as a senior NCP(SP) leader told HT that Bhujbal’s vocal stance on OBC s had alienated the Marathas. “With the Marathas now targeting him, he is a liability so it would make no sense to admit him back into the party,” he said.