Meanwhile, Raut sought to know who has the authority to accept Bhujbal’s resignation: Chief Minister Eknath Shinde or Deputy CM Fadnavis.
Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal, who has been opposing reservations for Marathas under the OBC group, on Sunday said he had submitted his resignation to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde as he is responsible for portfolio allocation.
Notably, Deputy CM Ajit Pawar has not yet responded to Bhujbal’s announcement at a meeting on Saturday that he was resigning on November 16, but remained silent on the advice of the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister.
Deputy CM and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis has said that Bhujbal’s resignation has not been accepted.
Prime Minister Eknath Shinde will be able to provide clarity, he told reporters.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday called Bhujbal’s revelation about his resignation a ‘nonsense’ and suggested that the NCP leader and the BJP were going hand in hand.
The Shiv Sena led by Shinde, BJP and the NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) are the voters of the Mahayuti government.
Ajit Pawar and eight NCP MLAs, including Bhujbal, joined the Shinde government last July.
“A prime minister assigns ministerial portfolios and informs ministers of their responsibilities. It is always the prerogative of a chief minister to include them in his cabinet and the governor is informed accordingly,” Bhujbal told reporters in Nashik when asked why he had signed up. his resignation from Shinde, which belongs to Shiv Sena.
Bhujbal’s revelation that he had resigned as a minister has highlighted the Maratha quota tightrope the Eknath Shinde-led government is walking amid restlessness among the OBCs, whom the BJP considers loyal voters.
Taking a swipe, Raut said Bhujbal claims he resigned from the Cabinet last year but attended subsequent Cabinet meetings.
It is said that Devendra Fadnavis is behind Bhujbal’s outbursts against the handling of the Maratha quota agitation led by (activist) Manoj Jarange. Both go hand in hand. I will resign and you will not accept it, or you will resign and we will not accept it. it,” he claimed.
Bhujbal has accused the state government of facilitating the Maratha community’s “backdoor entry” into the OBC quota by giving in to Jarange’s demands.
He has intensified his attack on the government after it issued a draft notification accepting Jarange’s demand that blood relatives of Marathas with Kunbi credentials (OBC sub-caste) be given the Kunbi certificates.
“I would like to tell the leaders of the Opposition, the government and my party that prior to the OBC Elgar meeting in Ambad on November 17, I resigned from the Cabinet on November 16 and subsequently attended that event,” he said. de Food and Civil This is what the Minister of Supply said a day earlier when he addressed the meeting.
He also said that he kept quiet for over two months as the Chief Minister and the Dy CM asked him not to speak about the resignation.
Talking to reporters, Fadnavis said, “The chief minister will be able to provide clarity, but all I can say as of now is that Bhujbal’s resignation has not been accepted by the chief minister or me.”
Meanwhile, Raut sought to know who has the authority to accept Bhujbal’s resignation: Chief Minister Eknath Shinde or Deputy CM Fadnavis.
It is a precedent that those who oppose the Prime Minister or the government have no right to be part of it, he asserted.
Speaking to reporters at Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district, Maratha quota leader Manoj Jarange dismissed Bhujbal’s claims that false and overwritten data was used to secure reservation for the Maratha community.
If he (Bhujbal) wants to resign, he should do so, but he should not talk against Maratha reservations, Jarange added.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
First print: February 4, 2024 | 11:29 PM IST