"Am I A Toy?" NCP's Chhagan Bhujbal To Boss Ajit Pawar Over Cabinet Snub

Upset over his exclusion in the recent Cabinet expansion, senior NCP legislator and Samata Parishad founder, Chhagan Bhujbal on Tuesday slammed the party President and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister, Ajit Pawar and Working President Praful Patel and asked whether he was a "toy in their hands."

Bhujbal, who is sulking over not getting a ministerial berth decided to skip the ongoing Winter Session of the House and reached Nashik on Tuesday.

He met a large number of supporters and declared that he would find out who had denied him the ministerial berth despite Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis being in favour of his induction into the Cabinet.
Chhagan Bhujbal told his supporters at Nashik that he would soon take a decision on the future course of action.

"Ajit Pawar and Praful Patel had said that they will discuss with me about giving me a ministerial berth. But they did not sit down for a discussion. No one from Ajit Pawar or Praful Patel's office called me. I am not a toy in their hands. If I resign, what will the people of my constituency think if I decide to consider their offer to go to Rajya Sabha," he commented.

Targeting Ajit Pawar and Praful Patel, Bhujbal further said, "Chhagan Bhujbal is not that kind of a person who if told to sit down will sit down and if told to stand up, will stand up."

"I will discuss with all the workers in the state and think about the next step. In a democracy, everyone has the right to express his or her views. I am trying to find out who rejected me for the ministerial post.

"The decision for every party is taken by the party chief. Just like Devendra Fadnavis takes the decision for the BJP, Eknath Shinde takes the decision for the Shiv Sena. Similarly, Ajit Pawar takes the decision for our group," said Bhujbal.

"Chief Minister Fadnavis had insisted that I should be in the Cabinet. I have confirmed this myself. I did not declare my name in the Lok Sabha.

"The Rajya Sabha seat came up. I said 'let me go', but I was not given a ticket. Party legislator Makrand Patil's brother Nitin Patil was given a nomination.

"I have been here for 40 years. At that time, the party told me that I was needed in the state and asked me to contest the Assembly election. I fought and won.

"Now the party has offered me a Rajya Sabha seat saying that as Makrand Patil has been inducted into the Cabinet his brother Nitin Patil will be asked to resign from the Rajya Sabha," said Bhujbal.

He added that he has rejected the party's offer as it would be a betrayal of the electorate from the Yevala constituency who overwhelmingly voted for him.

"I contested the election and won. My workers risked their lives for my victory. What can I tell them? So I cannot resign from the Legislative Assembly now. If I want to go to the Rajya Sabha, I will have to resign from the Legislative Assembly. I told them that I will leave after two years. Till then, I will solve whatever issues there are in the constituency.

"After that, they said that we will discuss. But they did not sit down for a discussion," said Chhagan Bhujbal.

"Everyone wants a ministerial berth. The issue is not about the ministerial berth, but the way it was disregarded.

"Union Minister Amit Shah had personally observed that Chhagan Bhujbal should contest the General Elections from the Nashik seat. All preparations were made, a lot of supporters approached me. If they wanted to make me contest, then they should have announced my name. They took a month for that and thereafter I announced my withdrawal from contesting the General Election from Nashik," he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)