Chhagan Bhujbal (born 15 October 1947) [1] is an Indian politician from Maharashtra,who is the member of current Government of Maharashtra,headed by Devendra Fadnavis. Currently he is a member of 15th Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra from Yeola Assembly. He also served as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 1999 –December 2003 and 2009 - 2010. [2] [3] [4] He earlier also served as Minister of Public Works Department and Minister of Home Affairs in Government of Maharashtra.
Before entering politics,Bhujbal was a vegetable vendor in Byculla Market where his mother had a small fruit shop.He started his political career with Shiv Sena in the 1960s. After being inspired by Shiv Sena philosophy of Balasaheb Thackeray,Bhujbal evolved into a hardcore Shiv Sainik. He was amongst initial members of the Shiv Sena.During his work as Corporator for the Mumbai corporation,Bhujbal maintained consistent contact,communication with rank and file of his constituency and its neighbourhood. Later,he was elected as Mayor of Mumbai twice. He was among the earliest MLAs of Shiv Sena elected from Mazgaon first in 1985 &again in 1990. [5]
He left Shiv Sena 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] Bhujbal contested 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 has been incumbent since 2004. [8] [9] [10]
Bhujbal belongs to an OBC community. [11] He shares strong ties with Bihar politician Upendra Kushwaha. On various occasions,Kushwaha has spoken to media that he considers Bhujbal as well as Sharad Pawar as his mentor and relies on them for his political decisions. [12]
In December 2017,Enforcement Directorate attached assets worth 20.41 crore rupees belonging to the Bhujbal family under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. [13]
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. [14]
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. [14]
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. [15]
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. [16] [17]
Sharadchandra Govindrao Pawar is an Indian politician. He served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra for four terms and in the Union Council of Ministers as the Minister of Defence in the Cabinet of P.V. Narsimha Rao as well as the Minister of Agriculture in the Cabinet of Manmohan Singh. He is the first and former president of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP),"which he founded in 1999,after separating from the Indian National Congress". His faction of the NCP was split by his nephew,Ajit Pawar. He leads his faction of the NCP in the Rajya Sabha,the upper chamber of the Indian parliament. He is the chairperson of Maha Vikas Aghadi,a regional Maharashtra-based political alliance.
The Nationalist Congress Party is one of the state parties in India and is one of the major political parties in Maharashtra with a recognised state party status in Nagaland and Kerala. The party has its presence in legislative assemblies of Maharashtra,Nagaland,and Arunachal Pradesh,with being in the governing coalition in all of these states. Besides this,the party is also part of the current governing coalition National Democratic Alliance led by the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Jayant Rajaram Patil is an Indian politician from the state of Maharashtra. He has been representing Islampur in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly for more than three decades. He was the Cabinet minister of the Water Resources Department in Uddhav Thackeray ministry. Earlier,he served as the Rural Development Minister,the Finance Minister and the Home Minister of Maharashtra.
Ajit Ashatai Anantrao Pawar is an Indian politician serving as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra along with Eknath Shinde since 5 December 2024. He is the longest serving Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra non-consecutively. He has served this position for 6 terms within various governments. He has worked as deputy chief minister within the cabinets of Prithviraj Chavan,Devendra Fadnavis,Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde.
Sameer Magan Bhujbal is an Indian politician and a leader of the Nationalist Congress Party. He was member of the 15th Lok Sabha representing Nashik in Maharashtra state in India from 2009 to 2014.
Maharashtra is India's third largest state by area and has over 112 million inhabitants. Its capital,Mumbai,has a population of approximately 18 million;Nagpur is Maharashtra's second,or winter,capital. Government in the state is organized on the parliamentary system. Power is devolved to large city councils,district councils,subdistrict (taluka) councils,and village parish councils. The numerically strong Maratha–Kunbi community dominates the state's politics. The state has national and regional parties serving different demographics,such as those based on religion,caste,and urban and rural residents.
Assembly elections was held in Maharashtra,India in two phases on September 5,1999,and September 11,1999. Election results were declared on October 7,1999. The major parties were Bharatiya Janata Party - Shiv Sena (Yuti) alliance,Congress and NCP. Congress and NCP contested against each other without a pre-poll alliance but came together for a post-poll alliance to stake claim to form the government. Vilasrao Deshmukh of Congress became Chief Minister,and NCP's Chhagan Bhujbal became Deputy CM.
The 2014 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election was held on 15 October 2014 to elect all 288 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. After a 63.38% turnout in the election as hung verdict has occurred with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shivsena (SHS) emerged as largest and second largest parties.
Although a parliamentary democracy,Indian politics has increasingly become dynastic,possibly due to the absence of a party organization,independent civil society associations that mobilize support for the party,and centralized financing of elections. Family members have also led the Congress party for most of the period since 1978 when Indira Gandhi floated the then Congress(I) faction of the party. It also is fairly common in many political parties in Maharashtra. The dynastic phenomenon is seen from national level down to district level and even village level.The three-tier structure of Panchayati Raj established in the 1960s also helped to create and consolidate the dynastic phenomenon in rural areas. Apart from government,political families also control cooperative institutions,mainly cooperative sugar factories,district cooperative banks in the state,and since the 1980s private for profit colleges. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party also features several senior leaders who are dynasts. In Maharashtra,the NCP has particularly high level of dynasticism.
Hemant Tukaram Godse is a member of the 17th Lok Sabha of India. He represents Nashik constituency of Maharashtra and is a member of the Shiv Sena. He was previously a member of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and contested the same constituency in the 2009 elections,but lost to the NCP's Sameer Bhujbal by 24,000 votes.
The 2019 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election was held on 21 October 2019 to elect all 288 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. After a 61.4% turnout in the election,the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena (SHS) won a majority. Following differences over the government formation,the alliance was dissolved,precipitating a political crisis.
A political crisis in the Indian state of Maharashtra occurred on 21 October 2019 after the declaration of results of the 2019 legislative assembly election over the formation of a new state government. The incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party Shiv Sena alliance crossed the majority of 145 seats needed in the assembly by winning a total of 161 seats in the alliance. Individually BJP won 105 and SHS won 56 seats. The Opposition INC-NCP Alliance with 106 seats did not reach the majority mark. Individually INC won 44 and NCP won 54 seats.
Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as the chief minister of Maharashtra for the second time on 23 November 2019. Alongside Fadnavis,Ajit Pawar was sworn in as the deputy chief minister. Before a Supreme Court-ordered no confidence motion could take place,Pawar resigned on 26 November. Fadnavis resigned shortly thereafter,making his second ministry the shortest Maharashtra ministry,surpassing P. K. Sawant's 1963 interim government,that had lasted for nine days.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi,is a state-level political alliance of centre to centre-left political parties in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is one of the two major political alliances in Maharashtra. The alliance was formed under the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray of SHS (UBT),Sharad Pawar of the NCP(SP) and Sonia Gandhi of the INC,along with the support from the PWPI,CPI(M) and several other political parties. MVA is currently the official opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Council. Most of the MVA constituents are members of the Indian National Congress-led Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance at pan-India level. The MVA suffered a setback in 2024,when it could only win 50 seats in the assembly elections,with none of the parties even managing to get the number of seats to have a leader of opposition in the assembly. This stripped its status as the official opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly
The 2024 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election was held on 20 November 2024 to elect all 288 members of the state's Legislative Assembly to elect 288 members of the 15th Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. The turnout for the election was 66.05%,the highest since 1995. The ruling Maha Yuti alliance won a landslide victory,winning 235 seats. None of the parties in the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance won the necessary number of seats to obtain the position of leader of opposition,a first in six decades..
Prithviraj Chavan was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra on 11 November 2010. The following is his cabinet. The government consisted of Chavan's Congress party and the Nationalist Congress Party.
Ashok Chavan was sworn in as Chief Minister of Maharashtra for the first time in 2008,after his predecessor,Vilasrao Deshmukh resigned the office in the aftermath of 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks. The first Chavan ministry governed until the 2009 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election,which resulted in a victory for Chavan-led Congress-NCP alliance and Chavan forming his second ministry.
The Members of 14th Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra were elected in the 2019 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election,with results announced on 24 October 2019.
The Members of 12th Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra were elected during the 2009 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election,with results announced on 22 October 2009.
The 2023 Nationalist Congress Party split occurred on 2 July 2023,when Ajit Pawar,along with several other party leaders,broke away from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by his uncle Sharad Pawar and joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Shiv Sena alliance government in Maharashtra. Ajit Pawar was sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra,along with eight other NCP leaders who took oath as ministers. This led to a vertical split in the party,with two factions emerging:one led by Sharad Pawar and the other by Ajit Pawar. The split resulted in a legal battle over the party's name and symbol. On 6 February 2024,the Election Commission of India (ECI) awarded the party name and symbol to the faction headed by Ajit Pawar. The faction led by Sharad Pawar was subsequently recognized as Nationalist Congress Party. On 5 March 2024,Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar declared the Ajit Pawar faction as the "real" NCP,citing its legislative majority.
