Bhujbal Voices Displeasure Over Denial Of Rajya Sabha Seat
The NCP nominated Rajendra Jain, a loyalist of party working president Praful Patel, as the party candidate for the vacant Rajya Sabha seat from Maharashtra.
Mumbai: Differences in the NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) have come out in the open with senior party leader and Maharashtra Minister Chhagan Bhujbal openly expressing displeasure over being denied a Rajya Sabha seat. Just like other leaders within the party, I also deserve to be treated fairly, he said on Monday.
“I have been one of the founding members of the party along with Pawar saheb (Sharad Pawar). I had demanded that just like how family members, sons and daughters of others get ministerial posts or Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha or Legislative Council seats, I should also be treated in a similar manner,” Bhujbal said.
“I am a kabaddi player, not a chess player,” he said, suggesting that he believes in straightforward politics, but lost out in the negotiations. Asked whether he believed injustice had been done to him, Bhujbal said, “What injustice? This is how things work now.”
Though Bhujbal did not name any leader, his remarks were apparently aimed at NCP state president Sunil Tatkare, who is currently a Lok Sabha MP from Raigad. His daughter Aditi Tatkare serves as the Maharashtra Women and Child Welfare Minister, while son Aniket Tatkare was recently elected unopposed to the Vidhan Parishad.
Bhujbal, who was keen on securing a Rajya Sabha berth, had proposed that his nephew Sameer Bhujbal be inducted into the state ministerial council in exchange for his own nomination to the Upper House of Parliament. He wanted Sameer to replace him in the state cabinet if he moved to Parliament. However, the party leadership rejected his proposal.
The NCP nominated Rajendra Jain, a loyalist of party working president Praful Patel, as the party candidate for the vacant Rajya Sabha seat from Maharashtra. The seat had become vacant following the resignation of the newly appointed Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar.
Bhujbal also dismissed rumours that the BJP blocked the induction of his nephew, Sameer Bhujbal, into the Maharashtra cabinet. “The BJP said that whenever there is a cabinet expansion in the state, Sameer Bhujbal would be considered. Therefore, it is incorrect to say that the BJP rejected my proposal,” he said.
