top of page

By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Bhujbal’s chopper lands in Pune parking lot

Mumbai : In what is suspected to be a breach of aviation protocols, a chartered helicopter ferrying Food & Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal from Mumbai to Pune skipped a designated helipad and landed in a vehicle parking lot almost a km away.   The shocker happened in Purandar taluka, where Bhujbal was slated to attend a function marking the 200 th  birth anniversary of the social reformer Mahatma Jyotirao Phule in his home village Khanwadi.   As crowds of bewildered people watched...

Bhujbal’s chopper lands in Pune parking lot

Mumbai : In what is suspected to be a breach of aviation protocols, a chartered helicopter ferrying Food & Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal from Mumbai to Pune skipped a designated helipad and landed in a vehicle parking lot almost a km away.   The shocker happened in Purandar taluka, where Bhujbal was slated to attend a function marking the 200 th  birth anniversary of the social reformer Mahatma Jyotirao Phule in his home village Khanwadi.   As crowds of bewildered people watched from around the sprawling parking lot, the helicopter appeared to drop speed in its flight, flew over some overhead high-tension electric cables, and descended gingerly into the parking lot - raising a thick dust-storm in which it disappeared for seconds - before touching the ground.   Moments later, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) senior leader Bhujbal and others stepped out of the chopper, looked around in the unfamiliar territory before several vehicles and police teams rushed there. Minutes before there was chaos and confusion with some locals shouting warnings at the ‘wrong landing’.   Eyewitnesses said that the chopper’s powerful rotors created a thick dust storm and sparked alarm among the people in the vicinity, and many scrambled to the spot to check what exactly was going on in the parking lot.   Later, the Pune Police said that a designated helipad was available for the chopper landing but were at a loss to explain how the pilot missed it and veered off quite a distance away in the vehicle parking space. Subsequently, they asked the pilot to fly it to the correct landing spot.   Shaken and angry local NCP leaders questioned how a pilot flying a VIP on an official trip could mistake a parking lot for a helipad when the weather and visibility was clear. They demanded to know whether the helipad was improperly marked or it was a question of communication or sheer negligence.   The Pune Police indicated that they would report the matter to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) which may take action against the errant pilot and the helicopter company.   “There was no accident. We all emerged safely. The helicopter pilot landed wrongly in a parking lot because the helipad was not visible. All of us are fine and there is nothing to worry,” said Bhujbal, before he was whisked off by his security team.   “There are many faults in numerous airplanes and helicopters, including maintenance issues and other problems. That's why I keep saying consistently that VIPs must exercise caution while flying. Fortunately, an accident was averted today, but that doesn't mean the authorities should be negligent. We expect the government to take urgent precautions.” Rohit R. Pawar, MLA, NCP (SP)

Parli’s Political Powder Keg

Munde

Come November 20, Maharashtra’s Parli constituency in Beed has become a rural microcosm for the heightened caste tensions in the Marathwada region. Long known as a stronghold of the Munde clan, the Ajit Pawar-led NCP’s Dhananjay Munde, who is the ruling Mahayuti’s candidate, is gearing up for a fiercely contested election where Maratha and OBC sentiments are set to clash in the wake of the Maratha quota agitation.


The ‘Jarange factor’ (after Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange-Patil) is poised to expose the undercurrents of caste politics in a region traditionally dominated by the BJP, particularly owing to the influence and legacy of late stalwart BJP leader Gopinath Munde.


For the BJP and the Mahayuti, the narrow defeat of their candidate Pankaja Munde in the Beed Lok Sabha constituency (of which Parli is part) battle earlier this year, was a major blow, with the Maratha sentiment playing a crucial role in her loss to Bajrang Sonawane of the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP).


Pankaja had secured victories in Parli in both the 2009 and 2014 elections but fell short of a hat-trick in 2019, when her cousin Dhananjay Munde defeated her by over 30,000 votes. Over the past five years, the sibling rivalry has been set aside, with the duo mending their differences.


While Munde was later rehabilitated as an MLC, her cousin Dhananjay is up against the NCP (SP)’s strategic nominee, Rajesaheb Deshmukh. The canny Sharad Pawar, to capitalize on the caste schism, has fielded Deshmukh – a Maratha – against Munde, a Vanjari OBC leader.


Dhananjay, however, downplays the intensity of the Maratha sentiments, suggesting that the agitation under Jarange-Patil has now waned, though political observers remain sceptical. Earlier this month, Jarange-Patil, who had threatened to field his candidates from the Maratha community, had, in a surprise announcement, done a volte face, stating he was taking back his announcement.


The NCP (SP)’s fielding of Deshmukh, picked by Sharad Pawar, underscores not just the narrative of Maratha identity politics but of Pawar senior’s Machiavellian moves to counter Ajit Pawar’s top aides (among whom Dhananjay is counted as such).


In an unabashedly populist announcement, Deshmukh has promised to arrange marriages for bachelors in Parli if elected, highlighting the struggle of rural men to find brides due to lack of employment opportunities. Deshmukh criticized his rival Dhananjay Munde for failing to bring industries to the area, which he argued has worsened the situation for local youth seeking jobs and marriage prospects.


Meanwhile, seasoned NCP leader Prakash Solanke, who announced his ‘retirement’ from active politics just months ago, has re-entered the fray in neighbouring Majalgaon.


In October last year, a violent mob had pelted stones and torched Solanke’s home after the Maratha quota agitation under Jarange-Patil had taken a turn for the worse.


With several Maratha candidates to contest against Solanke in Majalgaon, the upcoming election will hinge around identity politics rather than about governance.


As for Parli, the balance of power will hinge on how effectively Dhananjay Munde can navigate the simmering discontent among Marathas and the OBC community’s concerns.

Comments

bottom of page