‘Ajit Pawar was willing to send Bhujbal to Rajya Sabha’

Speaking to reporters on various issues, Kolhe said, “During the discussions, Pawar once told us that he was willing to send senior leader Bhujbal to the Rajya Sabha

Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar (NCP-SP) MP Amol Kolhe on Friday said that the late deputy chief minister and NCP chief Ajit Pawar had expressed willingness to send senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal to the Rajya Sabha after the merger of the two NCP factions.

There had been speculation earlier that after the merger of the two factions, Kolhe would be appointed the state unit president of the party. (HT)

Speaking to reporters on various issues, Kolhe said, “During the discussions, Pawar once told us that he was willing to send senior leader Bhujbal to the Rajya Sabha. He mentioned it in passing. As Bhujbal is a senior leader, Pawar wanted to send him to raise issues concerning the OBC community.”

When asked whether discussions had taken place regarding the finance minister and deputy chief minister posts after the merger, Kolhe said, “I am not aware of that. Whatever I know, I have already spoken about in interviews.”

Earlier, Bhujbal had criticised Kolhe and claimed that the state unit president and other posts had already been decided. Responding to this, Kolhe said, “Bhujbal is a senior leader. I do not want to comment any further on the topic.”