Former deputy CM claims he had ended the feud years ago when he had visited the late Balasaheb Thackeray
Chhagan Bhujbal was spotted outside the Esplanade Court for his long-pending case against Shiv Sena. Pic/Suresh Karkera
Chhagan Bhujbal was spotted outside the Esplanade Court for his long-pending case against Shiv Sena. Pic/Suresh Karkera
In an act of rapprochement with his 'political alma mater', the Shiv Sena, former deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal has forgiven the Shiv Sainiks who had attacked his official bungalow in Mumbai 20 years ago. The Sena-BJP government was in power at the time and Bhujbal was serving as leader of Opposition in the legislative council.
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Bhujbal, who is in judicial custody for corruption charges such as amassing assets disproportionate to known income, appeared before Mumbai's additional metropolitan magistrate RK Deshpande on Saturday. "This case is 20 years old. I had already patched up with the (late) Balasaheb Thackeray, and I have no complaint whatsoever against the Sainiks who are charge-sheeted in the matter," he told the court.
Ever since he parted ways with the Sena in 1991, Bhujbal has been their favourite target. He was the last witness to have appeared before the court in this case, which will go to the next stage in due course. According to him, the incident happened on a Sunday (date not confirmed by Bhujbal or his lawyers) after a statue of Dr Ambedkar in Ramabai Nagar was vandalised. "I had held the Sena-BJP government guilty because nearly a dozen were killed when the police opened fired on the mob that had gathered to protest against the vandalism. I had told the House that the government was a murderer," Bhujbal told the court.
He also said that someone had filed an affidavit alleging that the statue was vandalised on his orders. "A commission was appointed to probe the charges and the affidavit was proven wrong. In the meantime, I had filed a defamation case against Balasaheb and others for publishing baseless allegations against me in the Sena mouthpiece Saamana. But, I withdrew the charges in 2008 because of Balasaheb's deteriorating health. I went to his residence with my family to end the feud," he said.
"As I have no complaints against Balasaheb, I also have no complaints against the Sainiks who were charged for attacking my residence. I was not hurt and the attackers escaped when someone shouted there was a fire," added Bhujbal. Speaking to mid-day, Bhujbal's lawyer Sudarshan Khawase said, "Mr Bhujbal thought that given how these people have been making the rounds of the court for so many years, they must be given a break on humanitarian grounds. To me, the case is clearly in favour of the accused. I hope all will be free soon," he said.
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