I am not a toy: Bhujbal to Pawar over Cabinet snub

NCP leader says Fadnavis wanted him onboard

- Kalpesh Mhamunkar

NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal criticised party president Ajit Pawar over his exclusion from the council of ministers for the second day in a row on Tuesday, and said he was not a "toy" in anyone's hands.

Bhujbal's statement came as Ajit Pawar continued to remain inaccessible to NCP workers in Nagpur, where the assembly session is on. The NCP leader claimed that he was left out even though Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was in favour of his induction in the Cabinet. Bhujbal said his grievance was not over the Cabinet position itself, but rather the humiliation he felt from the party leadership. "My sorrow is not about the Cabinet berth but the disrespect I faced and the blow to my self-respect," he said.