NCP’s Chhagan Bhujbal takes oath as Maha cabinet minister as Anjali Damania growls

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar-led NCP’s OBC face Chhagan Bhujbal took oath as a cabinet minister without portfolio in the BJP-led Mahayuti-NDA government on Tuesday at the Raj Bhavan here.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and several leaders of the BJP-led Mahayuti-NDA alliance were present at Bhujbal’s swearing-in ceremony at Raj Bhavan, which is the Maharashtra governor’s official residence, even as Maharashtra Governor C P Radhakrishnan administered the oath of office and secrecy to 77-year-old Chhagan Bhujbal, who hails from the OBC Mali community, on Tuesday morning.

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The development is being seen as an attempt by the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance to placate OBC voters before the soon to be held local civic body and municipal elections in Maharashtra, after former Food & Civil Supplies Minister Dhananjay Munde who served as the Mahayuti’s OBC face, was forced to resign after being linked to the murder of Massajog village official Santosh Deshmukh, in Beed district.

There are indications that the portfolio of Food & Civil Supplies which used to be headed by Dhananjay Munde may be given to Chhagan Bhujbal.

However, as soon as Bhujbal was sworn in as cabinet minister, anti-corruption activist Anjali Damania, who has successfully fought as well as won a land grabbing case against Chhagan Bhujbal and his politician nephew Sameer Bhujbal in the past, tweeted on her X account, attacking Chief Minister Fadnavis, citing Prime Minister Modi’s past election slogans.

“Wow Fadnavis, wow! Does this mean that one corrupt minister (Dananjay Munde) will be replaced by another corrupt minister (Chhagan Bhujbal)? Is this a message to anti-corruption fighters like me, that none of us can do anything (against corrupt ministers)? What is this nonsense? Or are there no decent people in politics?

“When this same Bhujbal was in jail, a photo of him looking like a complete loser was circulated in the media. That was when I felt a pang in my chest. So now what? Remember the slogan — to take action against the corrupt, give us (BJP) more than 400 (Lok Sabha) seats? I feel disgusted with Maharashtra politics,” Anjali Damania tweeted on her X account.

Significantly, Bhujbal, who is also the founder-President of an OBC organisation called Akhil Bharatiya Mahatma Phule Samata Parishad, had fiercely campaigned for the caste census.

Bhujbal, who has been a Deputy Chief Minister, is a seven-time Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) and one-term Member of Legislative Council (MLC), has headed several ministries like urban development, home department, tourism as well as the food and civil supplies ministry.