Chhagan Bhujbal reaches out to Sharad Pawar to resolve Maratha-OBC stalemate

Senior NCP leader Bhujbal seeks Pawar's help to resolve caste tensions in Maharashtra, sparking speculation of political switch.

Senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Chhagan Bhujbal met his former party colleague and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) or NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar at the latter’s Silver Oak residence in Mumbai on July 15 to seek help in calming down caste related tensions in Maharashtra.

The meeting between the two came a day after Mr. Bhujbal had passed a critical and veiled remark of the Opposition alliance boycotting all-party meeting on reservation after a call from Baramati.

After the meeting, Mr. Bhujbal detailed out the agenda and discussions both the leaders had. He told reporters, “I had not met him as a Minister or for politics. I approached him to seek his support to calm down the situation that has arisen in Maharashtra due to the Maratha versus Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservation issue. The situation is becoming volatile to the extent that both the communities are boycotting each other’s establishments.”

Mr. Pawar is said to have shared that he is unaware of the discussions that the government representatives have had between pro-Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange-Patil and OBC activist Laxman Hake, hence, cannot take a call. However, the NCP(SP) leader has assured to call Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on the issue.

During the discussion that lasted for around 90 minutes at Silver Oak, Mr. Pawar suggested having a meeting with two-three more leaders and not more to initiate a dialogue.

“I requested him that you had taken a lead to provide reservation to OBC when you were State’s CM. Being the senior most political leader in Maharashtra, it is your responsibility to bring peace and calm the way you did during the renaming of Marathwada University,” Mr. Bhujbal said, who went to meet the political rival unannounced.

Prior to speaking to journalists, the meeting between the two had sparked buzz among political circles if an “unhappy” Mr. Bhujbal is contemplating switching over to one of the political outfits in the Opposition. In the last two months, he has made multiple comments expressing displeasure over being denied a ticket to contest Lok Sabha election from Nashik.