Mumbai, May 20 (IANS) Anti-corruption activist Anjali Damani on Tuesday slammed the Maharashtra government over veteran NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal’s induction into the state cabinet.

Soon after Bhujbal was inducted into the state cabinet, Damani wrote in a post on X in Marathi (loosely translated as): “Congratulations to the coalition government of Maharashtra. The state got another ED Bhushan Minister.”

Minutes before Bhujbal’s induction, Damani said, “Will Chhagan Bhujbal take oath as a minister at Raj Bhavan at 10 a.m. on Tuesday? Wow, Fadnavis, wow! Does this mean that one corrupt minister will be replaced by another corrupt minister? What is this nonsense? Or are there no decent people in politics?”

She further said, “And yes, when this same Bhujbal was in jail, a photo of him looking like a complete loser was shown in the media. So now what? I feel disgusted with Maharashtra politics. Remember the slogan below? “Action against corrupt officials, Ab Ki bar 400 paar.”

“Modi Govt’s Big Step Against Corruption. “Is this the big step? Is this the action?” she asked.

Bhujbal’s induction was done after the NCP president and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, party working president Praful Patel, and party state president Sunil Tatkare’s unanimous decision, especially ahead of the upcoming local and civic body elections.

Bhujbal is a leading OBC leader and the founder of Akhil Bharatiya Mahatma Phule Samta Parishad. He has been a strong advocate of the protection of the OBC reservation and caste-based census.

As another OBC leader Dhananjay Munde resigned in March in connection with the brutal killing of Beed sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, NCP decided to give ministerial berth to Bhujbal.

Bhijbal was sulking after not being inducted into the cabinet expansion held on December 15 last year.

–IANS

sj/svn