Pune: Ending all speculation, senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Chhagan Bhujbal on Sunday said he will never leave the party.
“From Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray to the BJP’s Girish Mahajan to Prakash Ambedkar and Ramdas Athawale, leaders across the political spectrum inquired after me. This sparked rumours whether I would stay in the party or go somewhere else. But there is no place I can go other than the NCP,” Mr. Bhujbal said at the NCP’s 20th Foundation Day function.
Mr. Bhujbal praised his party chief Sharad Pawar. “There is no other leader who has done so much for reservation for backward communities, women, and minorities as Mr. Pawar. The renaming of the Marathwada University to Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University could not have been possible without his initiative,” he said.
This was his first speech after being released on bail after serving two years in jail in a money-laundering case. “I wholeheartedly support the Maratha community’s demand for reservation,” Mr. Bhujbal, an important OBC face of the NCP, said.
Accusing the BJP of fostering social divisiveness, he said farmers are destroying their produce on the streets. “But the BJP still claims ‘acche din’ have arrived for the farmers. Earlier, suicides used to occur in rural areas, now they occur in front of Mantralaya.” He also challenged the Centre to name four cities which have really turned smart.
Claiming innocence in the Maharashtra Sadan scam, Mr. Bhujbal said all the raids conducted by the Enforcement Directorate had yielded no proof against him.
Mr. Pawar said, “What crime had Mr. Bhujbal committed? It seems strange that the BJP and other parties hold their meetings at the Sadan. There can be no greater testament to Mr. Bhujbal’s work than the Maharashtra Sadan.”