Taking a dig at Chhagan Bhujbal, the Shiv Sena on Wednesday said time had avenged the NCP leader’s attempt to arrest Sena founder Bal Thackeray in 2000 for inflammatory statements during the 1992-93 Mumbai riots.
The editorial in party mouthpiece Saamana said Bhujbal and his family have been accused of laundering money and stashing it abroad, thus causing losses to the state exchequer. Stating that Bhujbal had lost the moral right to cry hoarse about vindictive politics, the editorial said, “Time has taken its revenge. After his arrest, Bhujbal said this was injustice, and cried revenge politics. When he was Home Minister, Bhujbal had taken it upon himself to ensure that Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray is put behind bars. What was his crime? He made a pro-Hindutva speech was the charge on him, and it was also part of politics of revenge and personal animosity.” It recounted how Bhujbal had summoned central paramilitary forces to ensure that no law and order problem was caused due to Thackeray’s arrest.
Pointing out that as a political leader, Bhujbal has been arrested several times in a five-decade career, the editorial said, “But there is a difference. When he was part of the Shiv Sena, he went to jail for participating in the party’s agitations for the rights of sons-of-the-soil. Now in the Cong-NCP, he has gone to jail on charges of corruption. This is a degeneration of values for political gains.”
Accusing Bhujbal of misusing the government machinery to “create false cases” against those who “did not listen to him” so that they could be put behind bars, the editorial said, “He is responsible for his own degeneration. People who are today protesting against his arrest will soon forget the issue and go about their usual chores.”
Bhujbal began his political career as a corporator with the Shiv Sena in 1973, and became a close associate of Balasaheb Thackeray. He was handpicked by the Sena chief as Mumbai’s mayor in 1985 and 1991 when the Sena first came to power in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). With Manohar Joshi’s stars on the rise in the party, Bhujbal left the Sena in 1991 and joined the Congress led by Sharad Pawar. He left the Congress after Pawar’s rebellion against Sonia Gandhi’s leadership in 1998-99, and joined the NCP. He served two terms as the Deputy Chief Minister, one term as the Home Minster, and was the Minister for Public Works from 2004 to 2014.
The piece recounted how Bhujbal had summoned central paramilitary forces after Balasaheb's arrest
