Mumbai, June 8 (IANS) Veteran NCP leader and Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal on Monday dismissed reports that injustice has been done to him, but commented that he deserved the same justice that others received.

Speaking to reporters after the party nominee Rajendra Jain filed nominations for the Rajya Sabha elections slated for June 18, Bhujbal admitted that he was keen to get the nomination and that he had also requested the party that his nephew and former MP Sameer Bhujbal should be given his ministerial berth.

In his defence, Bhujbal said there are so many examples in the state.

“NCP legislator Makrand Patil is a minister in the state cabinet, while his brother Nitin Patil is a Rajya Sabha member. Sunetra Pawar is the Deputy Chief Minister, while her son Parth Pawar is in the Rajya Sabha. Eknath Shinde is DCM, while his son Shrikant Shinde is in the Lok Sabha. So I also desired that if I get the Rajya Sabha nomination, then my nephew, Sameer Bhujbal, can be inducted into the state cabinet. I desired the same justice as others received,” he said.

Bhujbal denied that the BJP opposed his proposal, saying that it will be considered whenever the expansion of the state cabinet takes place, and Sameer Bhujbal will get the ministerial berth. “By the time my proposal was placed before the BJP, only one day was left to make a decision. The BJP responded that Sameer Bhujbal’s induction would be considered during the next state cabinet expansion. So, it is untrue that the BJP rejected it,” he clarified.

Asked point-blank if he had faced injustice, Bhujbal responded with cryptic optimism. “What injustice? This is how things go now. Our policy is ‘if not today, then tomorrow; if not tomorrow, then the day after.’ I am a kabaddi player, not a chess player,” he remarked.

“I am not angry. What is there to be angry about? But the same justice given to others should have been extended to me, too. Other leaders are in the Rajya Sabha or Lok Sabha, and their children are ministers here in the state. I have been at the forefront of building the NCP since its inception. Therefore, my demand was simply that I should receive the same justice,” he reiterated.

Notably, when Bhujbal opted out after he could not secure a ministerial berth for Sameer Bhujbal, the party’s Working President Praful Patel recommended the name of his close confidant Rajendra Jain for the Rajya Sabha, and it was cleared by the core committee and by Parth Pawar, in particular.

–IANS

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