In a fresh twist in the continuing power game in the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in Maharashtra, Chhagan Bhujbal has demanded that the new party chief should be from the OBC community.

The move comes just days after Ajit Pawar’s offer to quit as the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly and assume a role in the party. The move by Ajit was seen as an attempt to impose his presence after Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule and former Union minister Praful Patel were appointed working presidents of the party.

Also Read: Ajit Pawar offers to step down as Leader of Opposition

While the latest remark by Bhujbal may well be an attempt to push for his own candidature as party president, there is a view that the senior Pawar may have played his hand to scuttle his nephew’s attempts to assume a greater role in the party.

Bhujbal, an OBC leader, referred to the recent remarks by Ajit Pawar at the party’s foundation day and said that every member of the party has the right to express his/her views in a democratic setup.

“Our party runs on democratic values so all have a right to express their opinions. The national chief of the party will take a decision on Ajit Pawar but I am expressing my feelings that OBC leaders should also get a bigger role in the party organisation,” he said.

Also Read: Ajit Pawar not upset, proposed Sule’s name for Working President: Sharad Pawar

Bhujbal further added that if the party appoints the next state president from the Maratha caste, the LoP post should be given to an OBC leader or vice versa. Bhujbal’s suggestion is of a political setup that augurs well in the caste matrix of Maharashtra — OBCs form a 40 per cent chunk of Maharashtra’s population, bigger than the Marathas at 33 per cent.

Maharashtra Congress has Maratha leader Balasaheb Thorat as Leader of Opposition, OBC face Nana Patole as the state president. Similarly, in BJP, OBC leader Chandrashekhar Bawankule has been given the responsibility of the state president post. According to Bhujbal, a similar move by NCP will help send a strong message to the party cadre.

The latest bouncer by Bhhujbal may augur well for the party in two ways. On the one hand, it allows Pawar to rein in his nephew who has never hidden his ambitions. On the other, it allows the party to finally shed its tag of being a Maratha party and woo the OBC community in the state.