NCP workers hit streets against Bhujbal's exclusion from Maha Cabinet

Supporters of NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal in Pune staged protests on Tuesday over his exclusion from the Maharashtra cabinet alleging insult to OBCs.

An agitation was also held outside the bungalow of Deputy CM and NCP chief Ajit Pawar in Baramati. 

Former ministers Bhujbal and Dilip Walse Patil of the NCP and Sudhir Mungantiwar and Vijaykumar Gavit of the BJP were among the prominent leaders who didn't make it to the state cabinet expanded on Sunday.

"Despite being the senior-most leader in NCP, Bhujbal was denied a cabinet berth which is an insult to the OBC community. If you had decided to allot cabinet posts to the senior leaders, then why did the same parameter not apply to Bhujbal?" asked one of the protesters who participated in a demonstration outside the district collectorate in Pune.

NCP workers wore black clothes and slammed Ajit Pawar.

A protester demanded Ajit Pawar make an announcement assigning the deputy chief minister's post to Bhujbal after 2.5 years.

Another protester said only Bhujbal stood for OBCs when Maratha activist Manoj Jarange launched protests demanding the OBC quota for the Maratha community.

Earlier in the day, Bhujbal launched a veiled attack on Ajit Pawar, claiming Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was in favour of his induction into the cabinet.

The senior OBC leader had said he was not hankering for a ministerial post but felt humiliated by the treatment meted out to him by NCP leadership.