New Delhi: Ahead of the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections, Chhagan Bhujbal’s nephew and NCP Ajit Pawar’s Mumbai unit president Sameer Bhujbal has rebelled against the party and resigned from the post. He will file his nomination as an independent candidate.
Sameer Bhujbal will contest the elections as an independent candidate from the Nandgaon Assembly constituency, according to sources.
What his resignation letter said
In a letter to the party chief Ajit Pawar, its Executive President Praful Patel, and its Regional President Sunil Tatkare, Sameer Bhujbal thanked the leaders for trusting him with the responsibility of the President of the Mumbai Division several years ago. “I fulfilled this responsibility with utmost dedication even in difficult times. Despite the adverse situations, we have always worked to uphold the party’s dignity and organisational strength.” he wrote.
He added that in recent times, however, the conditions in the election atmosphere have deteriorated, leading to unfair decisions being made. “It was decided to meet local workers and citizens of Nandgaon to assess the situation, and I presented my views in that meeting. The people of Nandgaon demanded a change in the election atmosphere, and therefore, I have decided to resign from my position as a protest against these unfair election conditions,” the letter read.
In view of seat-sharing in the Mahayuti, the Nandgaon seat is with Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and Shinde has already declared the current MLA Suhas Kande as the candidate from there.
The rebellion by Chhagan Bhujbal nephew is the third of its own kind in Maharashtra politics. Previously, Raj Thackeray, Balasaheb’s nephew, and Ajit Pawar, Sharad Pawar’s nephew, had also rebelled against their parties.
Why Sameer Bhujbal resigned?
Sameer Bhujbal was keen to contest from Nandgaon assembly constituency and he had been demanding a ticket from the party. NCP workers had also announced that they would not back Suhas Kande in Nandgaon. But the party didn’t hear them out and under the seat-sharing formula, this seat went to Eknath Shinde’s account. After this, Shinde gave the ticket to his party’s current MLA Suhas Kande from here.
NDA holds meeting on Maharashtra polls
The NDA leaders held a marathon meeting on the Maharashtra Assembly elections. According to sources, the dispute over the seats for Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party was addressed. Sources indicated that Nawab Malik’s candidacy was rejected. Malik was supposed to be the NCP’s candidate. However, Sana Malik’s candidacy will remain. Sources also suggested that Ram Satpute will not be nominated as a candidate.
