Chhagan Bhujbal

Chhagan Bhujbal (born 15 October 1947)[1] is an Indian politician from Maharashtra. Currently he is serving as Cabinet Minister of Food and Civil Supply, Consumer Affairs in Government of Maharashtra and Member of 14th Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra from Yeola Assembly. He also served as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 18 October 1999 – 23 December 2003.[2][3][4]He earlier also served as Minister of Public Works Department and Minister of Home Affairs in Government of Maharashtra.

Chhagan Bhujbal
Minister of Food and Civil Supply, Consumer Affairs Government of Maharashtra
Incumbent
Assumed office 28 November 2019
Chief Minister	Uddhav Thackeray
Preceded by	Sambhaji Patil Nilangekar
5th Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra
In office 8 December 2008 – 10 November 2010
Chief Minister	Ashok Chavan
Preceded by	R. R. Patil
Succeeded by	Ajit Pawar
In office 18 October 1999 – 23 December 2003
Chief Minister	Vilasrao Deshmukh Sushilkumar Shinde
Preceded by	Gopinath Munde
Succeeded by	Vijaysinh Mohite–Patil
Minister of Public Works Department Government of Maharashtra
In office 1 November 2004 – 26 September 2014
Chief Minister	Vilasrao Deshmukh Ashok Chavan Prithviraj Chavan
Preceded by	Vijaysingh Mohite-Patil
Succeeded by	Eknath Shinde
Minister of Home Affairs Government of Maharashtra
In office 18 October 1999 – 23 December 2003
Chief Minister	Vilasrao Deshmukh Sushilkumar Shinde
Preceded by	Gopinath Munde
Succeeded by	R R Patil
Personal details
Born	15 October 1947 Nashik, Bombay State, India
Political party	Nationalist Congress Party(1999–present)
Other political affiliations	Indian National Congress (1991-1999), Shiv Sena (1966-1991)

Political career

Bhujbal is an OBC leader.[5] He started his political career from Shiv Sena in the 1960s. Before entering politics, Bhujbal was a vegetable vendor in Byculla Market where his mother had a small fruit shop. After Diploma in Civil Engineering from VJTI, Bombay and being influenced by Shiv Sena philosophy and more particularly, by Balasaheb Thackeray, Bhujbal was evolved into a hardcore Shiv Sainik. He was amongst initial members of Shiv Sena and worked enthusiastically to spread Shiv Sena in the nooks and corners of Maharashtra.

Bhujbal started his political career with the Shiv Sena party. He left the party in 1991 and joined the Indian National Congress. Later, after the Indian National Congress leader Sharad Pawar decided to split from the Congress and form his own party, the Nationalist Congress Party, Bhujbal went along with him.[6]

During his work as Corporator, Bhujbal maintained consistent contact, communication with rank and file of his constituency and its neighbourhood. Later he was elected as Mayor of Bombay twice.

He was among the earliest MLAs of Shiv Sena elected from Mazgaon first in 1985 & again in 1990.

Bhujbal contested in 2014 General Elections from Nashik Constituency and lost the race to Hemant Godse from Shiv Sena.[7]

Bhujbal is currently Member of Legislative Assembly from Yeola Constituency and is incumbent since 2004.[8][9][10]His grandson Avijeet Bhujabal is now attained the age to be handed over his legacy costing around US$10.1 Billion.The forbes list may declare him the youngest billionaire by 2024.This teenager has a awesome fortune with collection of exotic cars listing BMWs,Mercedes,Audi and Land Rovers in his list,with a 35,000 sq feet of penthouse in the Malabar regions in Mumbai.Now his fortune of US $ 10.4 Billion is going to be officially handed over to Avijeet Bhujabal and currently he will assigned as the chairman of the stock brokering firm

Enforcement Directorate proceedings

In December 2017, Enforcement Directorate attached assets worth 20.41 crore rupees belonging to the Bhujbal family under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.[11]

Criticism

Allegations of deteriorating law & order situation in Nashik

Nashik known to be a peaceful district, where law & order situation has collapsed under Bhujbals' political clout. It is witnessing recession in all sectors. Daylight robberies, armed attacks, chain-snatchings and setting of two- and four-wheelers on fire have become routine.[12]

In view of the criticism of the home department, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan sent police commissioner Vinod Lokhande on leave for his dismal performance, while Samir Bhujbal demanded a CID probe into the collapse of law and order. But a senior Indian Police Service (IPS) official said that when each and every police official has been appointed on the family's recommendations, why should the home department be blamed? Chhagan Bhujbal must accept responsibility and initiate measures to restore the people's confidence.[12]

Alleged misuse and mismanagement of trust property

In 2012, Mumbai Educational Trust (MET) filed a criminal complaint against Chhagan Bhujbal, alleging misuse and mismanagement of trust property for family-run furniture business and destruction of evidence in connection.[13]

Attack on Alpha Marathi

On 23 Dec 2003, Chhagan Bhujbal resigned from the post of Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, owning the moral responsibility of attack on Alpha Marathi office in Andheri, Mumbai. A group of workers belonging to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) attacked the office of Alpha Marathi, which belongs to the Zee group. They were upset with the channel for airing a satire on Bhujbal's alleged role in the multi-crore fake stamp paper scam. NCP president Sharad Pawar told the media on Tuesday night that Bhujbal had sought his permission to resign on moral grounds. Chhagan Bhujbal handed over his resignation to then Chief Minister of Maharashtra Sushilkumar Shinde.[14][15]

References

1. "Telgi scam: CBI grills Bhujbal". The Times of India. 4 January 2005. Retrieved 26 October 2010.
2. "Chhagan Bhujbal : Chhagan Bhujbal The Prominent Deputy Chief Minister of Maharastra". Chhagan Bhujbal : Chhagan Bhujbal The Prominent Deputy Chief Minister of Maharastra. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
3. Official WebSite of Nashik District Archived 15 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine
4. "The fall and fall of Chhagan Bhujbal: The seven people who brought the NCP strongman down". Firstpost.com. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
5. "Chhagan Bhujbal - The OBC Leader". Business Standard. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
6. "Maharashtra: NCP missed Bhujbal's leadership, says Ajit Pawar". freepressjournal.in. 5 May 2018. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
7. "2014 Nashik Lok Sabha Constituency Results". January 2020.
8. "Maharashtra Assembly Election 2009 -Results" (PDF). Chief Electoral Officer, Maharashtra website. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 November 2009. Retrieved 30 September 2010.
9. महाराष्ट्र विधानसभा सािवविक वनिडणूक 2014 (PDF) (in Hindi). Chief Electoral Officer, Maharashtra website. January 2020.
10. "Schedule to Commission's Notification No. 308/MT-LA/2019" (PDF). Chief Electoral Officer, Maharashtra website. January 2020.
11. "ED attaches Rs 20 crore assets in Chhagan Bhujbal PMLA case". January 2020.
12. "Bhujbals or cop chief to blame for Nashik woes?". The Times of India. 31 January 2012.
13. "Bhujbal accused of 'destroying evidence'". The Times of India. 4 February 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
14. "NCP activists attack Zee TV office; Bhujbal resigns". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 24 December 2003.
15. "Bhujbal quits after TV office attack". The Times of India. 24 December 2003.