We forgave Bhujbal for ‘mistakes’ but he betrayed us: Sharad Pawar

Yevla: Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday came down heavily on his former colleague and cabinet minister Chhagan Bhujbal for betraying his ideology and his party, while urging people to teach him a lesson in the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections. The veteran leader also expressed confidence that his faction of the party would win the battle against Bhujbal and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP.
Addressing thousands of people who had gathered for the NCP (SP) rally in support of its candidate, Manikrao Shinde, at the Agricultural Produce & Livestock Market Committee (APMC) ground in Yevla, Sharad Pawar spoke about Bhujbal’s various “mistakes” over the years and how he had always supported him, only to be betrayed later.
“When Bhujbal was sent to jail by the BJP government [in 2016 in a money-laundering case], the party stood by him,” said Pawar. “My daughter went to meet him and gave him support. After coming out of jail, we gave him a ticket to contest the [2019] assembly election. The people of Yevla voted for him. We also made him minister in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, but Bhujbal betrayed us. He has no faith in ideology; he betrayed the party, leadership and the people, too. He defamed Yevla, which supported him for years. So now, it’s time to teach him a lesson. I will give you full support, and we will win, win, win.”
Pawar added that the undivided NCP under him had forgiven Bhujbal for certain mistakes that forced him to resign as Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister in 2003 and given him the post again in 2009. “Later, due to allegations of a scam, the BJP government sent him to jail. But the party stood by him, and my family gave him support. But he betrayed us.”
Bhujbal was arrested in March 2016 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for money laundering in the Maharashtra Sadan scam case before being released on bail in May 2018. In July 2023, he was among several NCP MLAs who joined Ajit Pawar in splitting the party founded by Sharad Pawar and joining the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena government.
At the rally, Sharad Pawar alleged that when the split happened, Bhujbal initially told him that he would speak to the rebelling leaders and try to convince them to reconsider, but then he himself joined the BJP-led government and took the oath as minister. Bhujbal has denied allegations that he joined the Mahayuti alliance due to pressure from the ED.
NCP (SP) candidate Manikrao Shinde also slammed Bhujbal, an OBC leader, for insulting the Maratha community over their reservation demand under the OBC quota. “There was communal harmony in Yevla earlier. People from all communities used to live together in peace. But Bhujbal used insulting language about the Maratha community over the issue of reservation and also used wrong language for Maratha activist Manoj Jarange-Patil,” said Shinde.