Behind Bhujbal’s Exclusion from Cabinet, Ajit Pawar-Fadnavis Pact, Jarange Factor, Focus on Gen-Next | Pune News

From September 2023, Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil was under fire for then Home Minister Fadnavis. He blamed Fadnavis for the police lathi-charge on a crowd gathered during a fast in Antarwali-Sarati village of Jalna district. He attacked Fadnavis in his press conferences and rallies. Fearing antagonism to the strong Maratha community, which makes up 32 percent of Maharashtra’s population, Fadnavis did not respond.

The Mahayuti, particularly the BJP, then hit upon the idea of ​​”propping up” OBC leader Bhujbal to take on Patil. For his part, Patil repeatedly alleged that Bhujbal held the brief for Fadnavis. He was adamant about Bhujbal’s criticism. OBC leaders were also equal to the task and their verbal duels became a staple of Maharashtra political discourse.

After the Mahayuti secured a brute majority, Fadnavis has changed his strategy, BJP insiders said. “He fended off many attacks from Jaranje in over a year. Every day Jaranje kept attacking him. Yet he maintained his balance. Now that the Mahayuti and the BJP have an overwhelming majority, Fadnavis does not want to give any handle to Jaranje as Bhujbal,” said a party leader. .

BJP spokesperson Keshav Upadhyay denied that the Jarange factor was behind Bhujbal’s exclusion. “I think this is an internal matter of the CPN and it has nothing to do with the Jarang factor. In fact, Bhujbal himself has made it clear that Fadnavis insisted that he should be in the cabinet,” he said.

Quid pro quo

According to NCP insiders, Fadnavis first approached Ajit Pawar and asked him to keep Bhujbal out. Fadnavis argued that if Bhujbal was part of the government, Patil would have an easy handle to target him and focus all attention on him. “Fadnavis believed that if Bhujbal was part of his team, all efforts to run the government smoothly would be affected. Both Bhujbal and Jarange would divert attention from government work and target each other,” said a leader.

Ajit Pawar then made his own conditions. He wants to take out his three opponents. One was BJP MLA Gopichand Padalkar, who had long targeted both Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar in vitriolic language. Another was Tanaji Sawant, who was a Shiv Sena minister in the Eknath Shinde government. NCP leaders said Sawant had made the most derogatory remarks against the party.

“Sawant said that when he sits next to Ajit Pawar and his party people in cabinet meetings, he vomits after coming out. Ajit Pawar had made it clear before the elections that Sawant should never be part of the cabinet,” the NCP leader said.

Yet another leader whom Ajit Pawar wanted to keep out of Fadnavis was Shiv Sena MLA Vijay Sivatare. During the Lok Sabha elections, Shivtare made insulting statements against him. It was only after Fadnavis’ intervention that he decided to join hands with Ajit Pawar. However, Ajit Pawar expressed anger towards him. His party fielded a candidate against Shivtare in the Purandar seat. Shivtare won but Ajit Pawar did not want to be associated with him, party sources said.

Gen-next weighed heavily

However, the NCP has said that Ajit Pawar wants a youth-heavy ministry from his side. “I think Ajit Pawar has emphasized through his ministerial colleagues that he is looking to the future. He wants the next generation to be the party’s torch bearer.
Bhujbal is 79 years old and the job of a minister is weakening him. Our party president may have played too big a role for him. He has also been offered Rajya Sabha nomination,” NCP spokesperson Sanjay Tatkare said.

Congress spokesperson Atul Londe, however, believes Ajit Pawar does not want any pressure from any corner. ‘Bhujbal stood as a parallel power centre. His support for the OBC rally and Mahayuti should have prompted Ajit Pawar to reconsider. Ajit Pawar believes in single rule and that is why he parted ways with Sharad Pawar as well,” he said.