Senior Ajit Pawar-led NCP leader and OBC face of the party, Chhagan Bhujbal, sworn in as a cabinet minister on May 20, has been allocated the Food & Civil Supplies ministry in the BJP-led Mahayuti government in Maharashtra. The ministry was earlier headed by Dhananjay Munde, who was forced to resign a few months ago.

Incidentally, Bhujbal has served as the Food & Civil Supplies Minister in the previous Mahayuti government when Eknath Shinde was the Maharashtra Chief Minister. He also held the same portfolio in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government when Uddhav Thackeray was Maharashtra’s Chief Minister from 2019-22.

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According to sources, around ten days ago, a meeting was held at Ajit Pawar-led NCP leader Praful Patel’s residence in Worli between NCP national president Ajit Pawar, Praful Patel himself, and NCP state president Sunil Tatkare. Following this meeting, Chhagan Bhujbal met Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis. Shortly thereafter, CM Devendra Fadnavis made a phone call to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, after which Bhujbal’s ministerial post was confirmed.

The displeasure in the Other Backward Castes (OBC) community over the resignation of OBC leader Dhananjay Munde, and its likely adverse effect on the BJP-led Mahayuti in the soon-to-be-announced local civic body and municipal elections, played a very important role in Bhujbal, who is also an OBC leader, being included in the cabinet, sources said.

CM Devendra Fadnavis was keen to prevent any OBC displeasure, and he ensured that an OBC leader like Bhujbal got a ministerial post, sources said.

Meanwhile, it is learnt that after Bhujbal was made Minister for Food & Civil Supplies, the Satpura official bungalow, presently occupied by former minister Dhananjay Munde, has been allotted to Bhujbal.

Accordingly, the Maharashtra state government has issued a notification and instructed Dhananjay Munde to vacate the official bungalow within 15 days, and it is learnt that Munde is likely to vacate the Satpura bungalow by the end of May 2025.

Presently, the gates of the Satpura bungalow remain closed, and policemen stationed there have been instructed not to allow anyone to enter the building.