Chhagan Bhujbal's revelation of resigning as minister a hogwash: Sanjay Raut

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday termed Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal's disclosure that he tendered his resignation from the state cabinet last November as a ''hogwash''.

Bhujbal claims he resigned from the cabinet last year but he attended the cabinet meetings after that, Raut noted while talking to reporters here.

Addressing a rally in Ahmednagar on Saturday, Bhujbal, who has accused the Maharashtra government of facilitating "backdoor entry" of the Maratha community into the Other Backward Class (OBC) quota, said he tendered his resignation from the state cabinet on November 16, 2023.

The senior OBC leader further said he kept quiet for more than two months because the chief minister and the deputy CM asked him not to speak about it.

Bhujbal, who belongs to the Ajit Pawar-led faction of the NCP, also said he is not opposed to Marathas getting the reservation but is against sharing the existing quota for the OBCs.

"It is said that (Deputy Chief Minister) Devendra Fadnavis is behind Bhujbal's outbursts against handling of the Maratha quota agitation by (activist) Manoj Jarange. Both are hand in glove. I will resign but you will not accept it or you resign and we will not accept it," Raut claimed.

The Rajya Sabha member sought to know who has the authority to accept Bhujbal's resignation - Chief Minister Eknath Shinde or Deputy CM Fadnavis.

It has been a precedent that those who oppose the chief minister or the government have no right to be a part of it, he claimed.

"We are of the view that all communities should get their rights but not at the cost of encroaching on others' rights," he said adding that even Bhujbal says the same.

On BJP stalwart and former deputy prime minister L K Advani getting the Bharat Ratna, Raut said what the BJP is today is because of Advani's 'Rath Yatra'.

"He (Advani) could have been appointed the country's president but the BJP didn't do it. He had the capability of becoming the prime minister but was sidelined," the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader claimed.

The Bharat Ratna will be bestowed on Advani in a year of the Ram temple's consecration, which marks a triumphant closure for the BJP of an issue which was thrust into popular consciousness by the veteran leader through his 'Ram Rath Yatra' in 1990.