Shri. Chhagan Bhujbal was born on 15th October 1947 at Nasik. He embarked on a
professional career after completion of Diploma in Mechanical Engineering from
V.J.T.I., a premier institute of Technology in Mumbai. Early in his life he
took to serious farming and agro-business.
A totally self-made individual, Shri Bhujbal has been a keen social and
political activist who rose from the grass root level to the highest echelons
of socio- political structure of our State. Be it the leadership against the
power brokers holding the poor oppressed workers to ransom or whether it was
the Maharashtra-Karnataka boundary dispute, he has always been at the forefront
of political activism.
In 1973, he was elected to the Mumbai Municipal Corporation. He was Leader of
opposition there between 1973 and 1984. In 1985 he became the Mayor of Mumbai.
He was re-elected as a Mayor in 1991. As Mayor he initiated major programs on
civic issues like better housing, slum development etc. He also launched the
unique city square and road railing beautification scheme in Mumbai during his
tenure. He has widely traveled abroad. In 1980 and 1986 he had visited U.S.A.,
France, U.K., Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and U.S.S.R. as part
of the mayoral delegation as well as other civic and social commitments. He
also participated in World Mayoral Conference held at Osaka, Japan in 1990.
Shri. Bhujbal visited France, Germany and England in October 2000. Thereafter,
he toured New York, Geneva and London from 28th May to 18th June 2001 to boost
the tourism. During the tour Shri. Bhujbal also visited the Scotland Yard
Police Headquarter in London and had discussions with the senior Police
Officials in respect of containing cyber crime in Maharashtra State. He also
visited many tour operators and tour associations in England and have
discussions to boost the tourism in India, especially in the State of
Maharashtra.
In the year 2002 from 19th to 24th May, Shri. Bhujbal visited Abu Dhabi, Dubai,
Maskat and Bahrain to boost the tourism of Maharashtra. He was invited by the
Union Minister of Tourism as well as Minister of Civil Aviation to participate
in their delegations visiting Middle East countries. Thereafter, Shri. Bhujbal
toured the U.S.A., Canada and U.K. from August 20 to September 5, 2002. He
participated in the World Travel Mart held from 6th to 14th November 2002 at
London.
He has been actively involved with social institutions like Nair Hospital,
Prince Agakhan Hospital, V.J.T.I. etc. He had worked as the Trustee on these
institutions. His commitment to the cause of professional education led him to
set up the Mumbai Educational Trust (M.E.T.) at Bandra Reclamation at Mumbai,
of which he is the Founder Chairman, where institutes of Pharmacy, Management,
Information Technology and Medicine have been set up. The Institute offers
state-of-the-art learning opportunities annually to over 5000 youth. He has
established Bhujbal Knowledge City at Nashik with a campus spread over 35
acres. Today, over 3,000 students are actively pursuing their preferred
professional education by a competent and committed faculty.
He was elected as the Member of the State Legislature in 1985 and again in 1990.
He became the Revenue Minister in the State Cabinet in November 1991. He later
on became the Minister of Housing and Slum Improvement - a job then he
performed with distinction till 1995. In April 1996, he was elected to the
Legislative Council and became the Leader of the Opposition in the Council.
After the State Assembly polls in October 1999, he joined the State Cabinet as
Deputy Chief Minister, in-charge of Home and Tourism portfolios till 23rd
December 2003. He was also the Guardian Minister of Mumbai city and was the
Chief Spokesperson for responsible urban governance within the Cabinet. He was
re-elected as M.L.C. on 21st April 2002. Shri. Chhagan Bhujbal was elected as
M.L.A. in November 2004 from Yeola Assembly constituency and served as the
Cabinet Minister of Public Works Department till 3rd December 2008.
Shri. Bhujbal sworn in second time as the Deputy Chief Minister, Maharashtra
State having portfolio of Public Works Department & Special Assistance, on
Monday, 8th December 2008.
He was elected again as a M.L.A. on 13th October 2009 from Yeola Constituency in
Nashik District, with the lead of 50,180 votes. Shri. Bhujbal has been elected
as a Leader of the Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra Legislature on
26th October 2009. Shri. Bhujbal has sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister of
Maharashtra State for the third time, with the portfolio of PWD and Special
Assistance again on 7th November 2009.
Maharashtra State cabinet was reshuffled on 11th November, 2010 and Mr. Bhujbal
was given the new responsibity of Tourism department retaining his portfolio of
PWD.
He has been greatly influenced by the social philosophy and work of Mahatma
Jotiba Phule, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj. This
convergence led him to set up, Mahatma Phule Samata Parishad which espouses
social equality as the very foundation stone of our society. This platform has
greatly contributed to the building up of harmony and equanimity across all
communities in our State.
He is one of the Founder Members of "The Nationalist Congress Party" and was
nominated its first President of Maharashtra. He continues to lead the State
Party machine with true grit, hard work and dedication.
Films and cricket are his favourite past times. He is an admirer of performing
arts and has produced two Marathi films viz. 'Daiwat' (1985) and 'Navara-Bayko'
(1990).