‘You could’ve still been CM if…': Ajit Pawar to Uddhav on NCP leader's birthday

Uddhav Thackeray said Chhagan Bhujbal would have become the chief minister of Maharashtra had he not quit the Shiv Sena, adding that his exit had shocked the Thackeray family.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar on Thursday told former Maharashtra chief minister and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray that he would have retained the chair for the top post in the state had he sought help from veteran politician Chhagan Bhujbal during the crisis that emerged out of a rebellion within the Sena.

NCP leader and MLA Chhagan Bhujbal with party president Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray at Shanmukhananda Hall, in Mumbai. (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT PHOTO)

Pawar, who was Thackeray's deputy in the previous coalition government of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, said Bhujbal, now an NCP leader before switching camps from the Sena and Congress, would have been the right person to deal with rebellions and the Sena supremo should have contacted him when 15 of his party's MLAs, led by Eknath Shinde, broke away. Shinde now heads the government with BJP's Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy.

"Uddhav Thackeray should have sought the help of Chhagan Bhujbal when Shiv Sena's 15 MLAs deflected from the party. He's the master of such scenarios. Had you contacted him, you could've still been the CM of Maharashtra, Pawar, now the leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly, said at an event organised to celebrate the 75th birthday of Bhujbal.

Besides Thackeray and Ajit Pawar, the function held in Mumbai was attended by National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah along with NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat.

Speaking at the event, Thackeray said Bhujbal would have become the chief minister of Maharashtra had he not quit the Sena.

"I have now become shock-proof. But when Bhujbal left the Shiv Sena, I must admit that our family was in a state of shock. The anger (that was vented) was political. We could not digest it for a long time that one of our own family members had deserted us," Thackeray was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

''I wish my mother were there when you visited 'Matoshree' (the Thackeray residence) and resolved all differences with Balasaheb," the Sena leader further said.

Once a firebrand Shiv Sena leader, Bhujbal left the Bal Thackeray-led Sena and joined the Congress in the 1990s. He later followed Pawar when he formed the NCP.

(With inputs from agencies)