The eight who became ministers alongside Ajit Pawar in the new Shiv Sena-BJP-NCP government have got a lot in the Sharad Pawar-led party over the quarter of a century and furthered their careers.
Incidentally, some of them face cases of central agencies.
Saheb, as Pawar is called, had nurtured and mentored them for years together.
In the Congress-NCP Democratic Front (DF) government from 1999-2014 and Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government from 2019-2022, they occupied plum positions.
While Ajit Pawar, a seven-time MLA from Baramati, became the Deputy Chief Minister for the record fifth time, the others who become ministers and their constituencies are: Chhagan Bhujbal (Yeola, Nashik), Dilip Walse-Patil (Ambegaon, Pune), Hasan Mushrif (Kagal, Kolhapur), Dhananjay Munde (Parli, Beed), Dharmaraobaba Atram (Aheri, Gadchiroli), Aditi Tatkare (Shrivardhan, Raigad), Sanjay Bansode (Udgir, Latur) and Anil Patil (Amalner, Jalgaon).
The shockers among the lot were Bhujbal, Walse-Patil and Mushirf.
A veteran OBC leader, Bhujbal (76) had started off with Shiv Sena and became the Mayor of Mumbai, however, he engineered the first rebellion against late Balasaheb Thackeray to join Congress under Pawar. When NCP was founded in 1999, Bhujbal became the first state unit president of NCP. When the Congress-NCP government came to power, he became the Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister. His name cropped up in the Telgi fake stamp paper scandal and faced a probe though came out clean. He was also arrested in an alleged Maharashtra Sadan scam but was discharged by a special ACB court. A fortnight ago when Ajit Pawar offered to step down as Leader of the Opposition and work in the party organisation, Bhujbal was the first to throw the hat in the ring for the post of state President.
Walse-Patil (67) started as PA to Sharad Pawar and had been in charge of Home, Excise and Energy ministries. He was also Speaker for five years.
Mushrif (69) is an old aide of Pawar and had held portfolios like Rural Development and Labour. Of late, Mushrif and his sons were facing investigations by the ED and IT.
Munde (48) is the nephew of the late Gopinath Munde and cousin of Panjaka Munde. It was Ajit Pawar who got him from the BJP to NCP and Munde then became the Leader of the Opposition in the Council and also a minister. He faced a scandal over personal relations.
Aditi (35) is the daughter of Raigad MP Sunil Tatkare, who had been a minister and also a state NCP President. Aditi too was a minister in the MVA dispensation. The senior Tatkare, who is close to Ajit Pawar, was appointed Treasurer when the organisational changes were made.
Atram (56) belongs to a tribal-king family - and in 2008, when he was a minister in the DF government, his name cropped up in a hunting case.
Bansode (49) is close to Ajit Pawar and so is Patil (54).
“That Bhujbal, Walse-Patil and Mushrif would have left no one would have ever thought. They wield influence in their region and are grass roots men. They have grown in the NCP,” said an NCP leader from Sharad Pawar’s group.