NCP to name Bhujbal's replacement soon

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was trying to finalise the names of successors for the post of deputy chief minister following Chh-agan Bhujbal's exit from the Sushil Kumar Shinde-led Democratic Front ministry in Maharashtra.

Names of state party unit chief RR Patil, PWD minister Vijaysinh Mohite Patil, Sharad Pawar's nephew Ajit Pawar, and tribal welfare minister Madhukar Pichad were doing the rounds, NCP sources said.

"The senior party leadership will meet tomorrow night separately to decide Bhujbal's successor," NCP spokesman Praful Patel said.

Bhujbal is a Mali, an Other Backward Classes in Maharashtra, and his elevation had created trouble in the Maratha following of the NCP. Because of Pawar's overweaning influence, the Marathas had not rebelled and voted against the NCP.

However, now that Bhujbal is out, the party will be under pressure to appoint a Maratha in his place. Both Ajit Pawar and Vijaysinh Mohite Patil are Marathas.

It is also possible that to prevent annoying the OBCs, the NCP could split the posts of home minister and deputy chief Minister thus creating two portfolios out of one.

Meanwhile, a day after he tendered his resignation Bhujbal said he would continue to fight against the opposition campaign.

"I am known as a fighter. I will not quit the battleground and continue my fight," Bhujbal said when his attention was drawn to his recent statement that he would not quit in the wake of Opposition allegations against him in connection with the fake stamp-paper racket.

"The media played a vital role in propagating to people my fight against injustice. So if the media was victimised because of me, then as a home minister I must do penance for it. That is the reason for my resignation," he said.

Bhujbal also said he would continue to work relentlessly as the NCP leader and would attend the party's two-day brainstorming session beginning here in the afternoon.