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I'm not an outsider!: Sameer Bhujbal |
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By: Ranjitt Khomne |
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Date:
2009-04-20 |
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Place:Mumbai |
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NCP candidate Sameer Bhujbal tells Ranjitt Khomne why his detractors are playing the 'outsider' card
The quaint temple town of Nashik finds itself in the midst of political controversy with the NCP overriding its
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Star power: Salman Khan campaigned for Sameer Bhujbal in the Muslim-dominated areas in Nashik yesterday. Sunil Shetty will campaign for him today. PIC/SHADAB KHAN | Maratha candidates in favour of Chhagan Bhujbal's nephew, Sameer, as its candidate from the city. The Bhujbals belong to the minority Mali community, a fact that has not gone down well with the Marathas.
Your rivals claim you are an outsider.
I am being called an outsider only because I am contesting from here (Nashik). But this is not true. My family hails from Nashik. I spent my childhood here and my mother still lives here. This place (Bhujbal Farm) has been our agricultural land for decades. We raised a mineral water plant in Ambad 15 years ago and recently launched a 6MW biogas project in Eklahra to supply power to MSEB. And yet, we are referred to as outsiders.
You have always been on the fringes of the party, never in the front.
My uncle led the party from the front. So, I preferred to work in the background. I have always worked for the party, and done whatever was required, whether it was finalising a symbol or organising rallies.
The Maratha leaders in the party seem to be against you.
Development and not caste is the issue for us. They are all working with me.
What are your plans for Nashik?
Nashik forms the golden triangle along with Mumbai and Pune. However, Nashik is yet to get an airport, a cricket stadium, and educational hubs. We don't have any agro food processing projects. I plan to get these facilities for Nashik. We have already started the Bhujbal Knowledge City (spread across 34 acres with over 4 lakh sq ft of campus floor space) in Adgaon.
What development have you brought to Yeola after your uncle became the MLA there?
We have built an industrial training institute. A mini secretariat, housing all government offices is almost done. With a new dam and storage tanks, we have also reduced Yeola's water shortage to a large extent.
Who is Sudhir Pujari?
Mahamandaleshwar Sudhir Pujari (43) is the 27th generation priest of the historic Kalaram Temple in Panchwati. The mobile-savvy priest has over 1.30 lakh sadhus of the Nirwani akhada under him. His grandfather had opposed
Dr B R Ambedkar when he sought entry for Dalits into the temple.
In 2007, Sudhir Pujari publicly apologised to the Dalits and sought a new social consensus whereby Dalits could be empowered in the country. No wonder, he was handpicked by BSP supremo Mayawati to contest from here.
"I am a candidate of the common man. Marathas, OBCs, Dalits and Brahmins will vote for me. Nashik's voters resent this new culture in which the Bhujbals crudely display their Lexus and Landcruisers," he says.
Gift of knowledge
The Bhujbal Knowledge City in Adgaon is supposed to be the Bhujbals' gift to Nashik. It is governed by the Maharashtra Educational Trust (MET), which Chhagan Bhujbal started in 1989. There is another campus at Bandra Reclamation. The MET offers a range of courses and has over 25,000 professionals as its alumni
The caste wars
The Maratha community considers NCP candidate Sameer Bhujbal as an outsider. While the party's Maratha members, including Devidas Pingle and Dr Vasant Pawar, support him in public, the situation is deteriorating for the NCP with both the Shiv Sena and the MNS playing the Maratha card. Shiv Sena's candidate Datta Gaikwad and the MNS' Hemant Godse are both Marathas. With Gaikwad and BSP's Brahmin candidate, Mahamandaleshwar Sudhir Pujari expected to cut into the NCP-Congress votes, the election on Thursday can turn into a pitched battle. |
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