When NCP was united, Ishwar Balbuddhe was the state president of the party’s OBC cell for about six years. After Ajit Dada’s decision to separate, he also separated from Sharad Pawar. He is considered to have a good hold on the OBC voters of the state.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP Chief Ajit Pawar got a big blow today (Friday) when prominent OBC leader of his faction and popular face of Vidarbha region Ishwar Balbuddhe joined the opposition camp led by Sharad Pawar in Mumbai. Ishwar Balbuddhe joined the party in the presence of Maharashtra NCP (Sharad faction) president Jayant Patil and NCP leader Anil Deshmukh. Balbuddhe had attacked Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party a few days ago. Today he formally joined Sharad Pawar.
In the party led by Ajit Pawar, Balbuddhe was the state coordinator and state secretary of the OBC department. On entering the Sharad faction, Ishwar Balbuddhe said, ‘I have worked with Chhagan Bhujbal sahab for the last 30 years but it is Sharad Pawar who has given real justice to the Mandal Commission and the OBC component. Balbuddhe said that after Pawar sahab, now if anyone is trying to stand up this class to get justice to the OBC component, then it is Jayant Patil sahab.
He expressed grief over the fact that Chhagan Bhujbal, who calls himself an OBC leader, could not provide justice to OBCs even after 30 years. Chhagan Bhujbal is currently a cabinet minister in the government led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and is a leader of Ajit Pawar’s NCP. Some more supporters of Chhagan Bhujbal may also join Balbuddhe. It is believed that with the exit of Balbuddhe, the strength of OBC leader Chhagan Bhujbal may also decrease.
Who is Ishwar Balbudhe
When the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was united, Ishwar Balbuddhe was the state president of the party’s OBC cell for about six years. After Ajit Dada’s decision to separate, he too had separated from Sharad Pawar. Ajit Pawar had appointed him as the state coordinator of the party’s OBC cell in view of his hold on the OBC voters. Ishwar Balbuddhe was originally a close aide of Chhagan Bhujbal. He has also been active in the Samta Parishad with Bhujbal for the last two decades.
According to the report of ABP Majha, before the last assembly elections, Ishwar Balbuddhe had traveled all over the state. He went to almost all the 288 constituencies and campaigned there. Not only this, he also organized a training camp of OBC cell workers in Nagpur in 2019. Balbuddhe was appointed as the chairman of OBC Corporation during the Maha Vikas Aghadi government but by the time the appointment order was issued, Uddhav Thackeray’s government fell due to a split in the Shiv Sena. Balbuddhe is considered to have a good hold on the OBC voters of the state. His return just before the Maharashtra elections can strengthen the Sharad faction.