Team Fadnavis selects Bhuse, Malegaon upbeat

Malegaon: The city and its neighboring areas on Friday burst into celebrations as local MLA Dada Bhuse (Shiv Sena), who represents Malegaon (Outer) in the assembly, took oath as the minister of state (MoS) in the BJP-led Maharashtra government.People across party lines were seen bursting firecrackers and congratulating each other. "This is a moment of glory for Malegaon as a local MLA has been inducted as a minister in the state cabinet after about two decades. Otherwise, till 1995, every cabinet had a local MLA as a minister", Pratap Shah, a businessman, said. Others too shared the same opinions and hoped that with Bhuse would raise the local issues that are gathering dust since long. "Malegaon suffered a lot as the local MLAs earlier were either from opposition parties or they were too weak to raise the local issues with the government. Dada Bhuse is a three-time MLA from Malegaon and he is one of the most senior Sena leaders of the region. With him as minister in the cabinet, we can hope that Malegaon will also get its share of development which is long overdue", Naved Akhter of the Malegaon Industries & Manufacturers Association (MIMA) said.Bhuse is seventh MLA from Malegaon to serve as minister in the state government. Others before him are Bhausaheb Hirey, Venkatrao Hirey, Nehal Ahmed, Pushpatai Hirey, Dr. Baliram Hirey and Prashant Hirey. A mechanical engineer, Bhuse was a political novice till 2001. He rose to fame after the October 2001 riots in Malegaon. He was not only alleged to have staging the riots but was also charged with the murder of Khalil Ahmed, an ex-councilor. Even as a criminal case was pending against him, he contested the 2004 assembly elections as a Shiv Sena candidate and defeated Prashant Hirey, the political stalwart of the Hirey family, who contested the election on the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).After this, there was no looking back for Bhuse. He slowly but steadily nurtured a strong support base in the constituency considered a bastion of the Hirey clan.Dada Bhuse is a three-time MLA from Malegaon and he is one of the most senior Sena leaders of the region. With him as minister in the cabinet, we can hope that Malegaon will also get its share of development which is long overdue