 "Chhagan Bhujbal")
Shiv Sena leader-turned-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) veteran Chhagan Bhujbal was caught in the multi-crore Telgi stamp paper scam in 2003-04. However, he came out unharmed after a high-profile Central Bureau of Investigation probe.
He made a successful comeback in the Congress-NCP government as the public works minister and for a short stint as the deputy chief minister for the second time since 1999. This was on account of the confidence shown by his mentor and NCP chief Sharad Pawar.
He made a successful comeback in the Congress-NCP government as the public works minister and for a short stint as the deputy chief minister for the second time since 1999. This was on account of the confidence shown by his mentor and NCP chief Sharad Pawar.
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However, Bhujbal, who rose from a vegetable vendor to a high-profile politician, perhaps failed to realise the pitfalls of his passion to take bigger bets.
He relied heavily on his nephew Sameer Bhujbal that only often landed him in fresh controversies.
Bhujbal, who was elected Mumbai Mayor twice during his days in the Shiv Sena, preferred to retain the lucrative public works department (PWD). Sameer had allegedly played a key role in recommending the names of aspirants on key posts and reinstatement of some suspended officers. The decision to award a major construction contract of Maharashtra Sadan in New Delhi to a private builder and an NCP supporter brought Bhujbal back under scanner.
Besides, he is alleged to have put pressure on the officers of the regional transport department for the development of a new facility in northwest Mumbai. The builder struck a deal with another and sold the development rights for Rs 850 crore. Bhujbal allegedly received kickbacks in the deal.
Undeterred by the burgeoning criticism by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiv Sena, which were in the Opposition, and also by NGOs, Bhujbal went on the defensive saying the decision was a collective one by the Cabinet sub-committee and that he alone couldn’t be blamed. Further, Bhujbal-led PWD struck a Rs 124-crore deal with a leading business house involved in real estate, infra to build a library for the Mumbai University at Kalina, allowing the same company to build flats on the rest of the plot. In return, the same company donated Rs 2.5 crore to the Bhujbal Foundation.
Bhujbal continued to hit the headlines because of various allegations against him and his nephew. Despite the rising chorus against him and demand by the Opposition and NGOs, the Congress-NCP government preferred not to act fast. The BJP and the Shiv Sena, ahead of the Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections in 2014, promised to take action. Upon assuming power, they gave full freedom to investigative agencies to put all cases involving the Bhujbals on fast track. The ED alleged that a dozen companies based out of Kolkata bought shares in companies fully owned by the Bhujbals on unrealistic premia, which was subsequently channelled through several other companies to launch projects such as the Hex World housing project in Navi Mumbai.
The allegation against the Bhujbals, including son Pankaj and nephew Sameer, was that the Kolkata-based companies were floated to re-route the bribes taken while awarding the contracts. Meanwhile, Bhujbal tried to put up a brave front arguing there was nothing wrong in various contracts awarded and the formation of shell companies.
However, Bhujbal, who had dared to arrest his ‘God’ and the Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray in 2000 in connection with a case against the Sena mouthpiece for inciting the 1992-93 riots, had come to the realisation that tough days were ahead. It was too late as ED had filed two first information reports on June 17, 2015 against him, Pankaj and Sameer for alleged money laundering. This was after the state Anti-Corruption Bureau searched 26 properties.
His critics claim that Bhujbal’s rise and fall provide a readymade script for a Bollywood potboiler. Will he come out clean or will the image of a scamster finally stick? It will depend on how the political leadership in Maharashtra decides to take this case forward.
