Mumbai: Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, while skimming over the rebellion of Eknath Shinde, seems to have made peace with Chhagan Bhujbal, the first rebel of the Shiv Sena, who dropped out of the party in 1991 to join the Congress and eventually joined the Congress. became a founding member. of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
In June, Shinde toppled the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government – consisting of the Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP – and became chief minister with the help of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
On Thursday, Thackeray attended Bhujbal’s 75th birthday celebrations as the chief guest. The NCP held a grand show at Mumbai’s Shanmukhanand Auditorium to mark the occasion, inviting leaders like Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and J&K National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah, besides Thackeray.
NCP President Sharad Pawar was also present on the occasion.
The NCP released a book on Bhujbal’s life written by senior journalist Vijay Samant and Shiv Sena spokesperson Harshal Pradhan.
Thackeray honored Bhujbal, considered one of Maharashtra’s foremost Other Backward Classes (OBC) leaders, with a bouquet of flowers and a shawl.
Speaking at the event, Thackeray, whose faction is now called Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT), admitted that Bhujbal’s departure in 1991 hurt the Shiv Sena as it was tantamount to “losing a family member”. was.
“When he [Bhujbal] Gone, gone alone. But when he came back, he returned with the entire NCP, and not only with the NCP, but also with the Congress,” said Thackeray, reiterating his commitment to the MVA alliance.
Read also: ‘Shinde is reading BJP’s script’, ‘Uddhav Running Pvt Ltd’ – two armies clash in Dussehra rallies
‘Bhujbal should not have left’
The former Maharashtra chief minister said that Bhujbal should not have left the Shiv Sena and his rebellion came as a shock to the entire Thackeray family.
“It took us a long time to recover from this. But, one good thing you did was that you ended the hostilities while Balasaheb was alive. You came home, met Balasaheb, and settled the differences,” said Thackeray, dinner meeting That Bhujbal had met Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray at Matoshree in 2009. Balasaheb passed away in 2012.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) chief said very few people get the privilege of being mentored by two big leaders like Bal Thackeray and Sharad Pawar, but he (Bhujbal) never misused his trust.
first rebellion
Bhujbal was working as a vegetable vendor at Crawford Market in Mumbai in the 1960s. got included in Shiv Sena, and eventually became Bal Thackeray’s blue-eyed boy in the party.
He was elected as a Shiv Sena councilor in Mumbai in 1973, and was the party’s sole representative in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly in 1985. Bhujbal had wontorch‘Who is the real Shiv Sena’, until the Election Commission settles the dispute between Thackeray’s faction and the Shinde group, which symbolizes the Shiv Sena (UBT).
Bhujbal’s relations with his party began to sour after 1990, when the Shiv Sena sidelined Manohar Joshi to nominate him as the leader of the party’s legislative group. Bhujbal’s support for the Mandal Commission’s reservation policy, which Bal Thackeray had decided to oppose, made the situation worse.
he finally went out With a group of Shiv Sena supporters in December 1991. Bhujbal had also caught the attention of Shiv Sena leaders by getting Bal Thackeray. Arrested In relation to his writings regarding the 1992-93 riots in 2000. Bhujbal was the Deputy CM and Home Minister of the NCP-Congress government at that time.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)