Quotas row: Chhagan Bhujbal claims he quit as Minister on Nov 16

Ahmednagar (Maharashtra), Feb 3 (IANS) In a major revelation, breakaway Nationalist Congress Party (AP) Minister Chhagan Bhujbal here on Saturday claimed that he had submitted his resignation from the Maharashtra cabinet on November 16 but had kept the matter secret.

Addressing a massive OBC Elgar rally here, Bhujbal said that he had tendered his resignation letter as Food & Civil Supplies Minister to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde over two months ago on November 16, at the height of the Marathas reservation issue protests in different parts of the state, but chose to remain mum over it.

The next day, Bhujbal said that he had gone for a scheduled public rally, and the following day (November 18), Shinde, along with the two Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, had called him to discuss the matter.

In that meeting, the trio of CM and two deputy CMs requested Bhujbal to withdraw his resignation as it could create political complications and a potential law-and-order issue in the state. Indicating that he did not accede to their request, Bhujbal, 76, added that his resignation letter is still with Shinde, but now he plans to quit as MLA from Yeola (Nashik) in the interest of society and the larger cause of ensuring justice to the OBCs.

The latest disclosure came as he adopted an aggressive stance vis-a-vis the proposed Maratha quotas after the six-month long agitation by Shivba Sanghatana President Manoj Jarange-Patil which ended on January 27, but may be revived from February 10. At the rally on Saturday, Bhujbal attacked the ruling MahaYuti government and also Jarange-Patil and reiterated that he would not allow any injustice to the cause of OBCs quotas for accommodating the Marathas reservation demands.

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