BJP national secretary and former Minister in the Maharashtra government Panjaka Munde, who recently announced her decision to take a break for ‘one-two month’ from politics, has been asked by the party’s top leadership in New Delhi to “immediately reconsider” her decision, especially in light of the crucial Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections on the horizon.
Ms. Munde, along with the former general secretary of the BJP, P Muralidhar Rao, was given charge of the State, but since the announcement of a split in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Ajit Pawar faction joining the NDA government in the State, Ms. Munde has publicly declared her intention to take a sabbatical.
State leaders said that Ms. Munde was uncomfortable with the inclusion of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) rebel leader Ajit Pawar and eight other NCP MLAs, including her estranged cousin Dhananjay Munde, in the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government.
Mr. Munde is a close confidant of Mr. Ajit Pawar and in the 2019 Assembly election, defeated his cousin, Ms Pankaja Munde, from the family pocket borough of Parli in Beed district, and was allotted the Agriculture portfolio recently.
Sources within the party have disclosed that Ms. Munde received a call from a prominent party leader from Delhi expressing concern over her decision to step away from her political responsibilities without consulting the senior leadership. “It was not a very friendly call,” said the source.
“The party leadership was surprised when she announced her decision to take a temporary break from politics. She should have consulted her immediate political bosses in Delhi as well as Mumbai before taking a call. As co-in-charge of Madhya Pradesh, her role is significantly important, given the approaching elections in the State,” a senior leader told The Hindu.
He also confirmed that the 43-year-old former MLA had received a call from a top leader who asked her to retract her decision immediately and take up the responsibilities in Bhopal.
“We are informed that her response was not clear,” the saffron party leader said. When contacted for confirmation, Ms. Munde said that her break was not from social or political life, but from the “hustle and bustle of politics in order to introspect what is happening” and denied getting any call from Delhi. “I have never worked against the party’s interest, and I’m not going to do so,” she reiterated.
“Clearly, she is not comfortable with the recent development as it has threatened her position in Parli. With Mr. Munde being a minister in the current coalition, the alliance might give him the ticket from the same constituency in the coming elections, and Ms. Munde might be asked to contest in the Lok Sabha election from Beed, which is currently represented by her sister, Dr. Pritam Munde. The current situation raises uncertainties about Dr. Munde’s political future,” a leader added.
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The situation with regard to Ms Munde is ironic considering that it was she, along with current national joint general secretary of the BJP, V Satish and former Maharashtra Minister Prakash Mehta who had finally prevailed on her father, late Union Minister Gopinath Munde, from leaving the BJP in 2008.
“All was in readiness for Mundeji to join the Congress back then, but Pankaja, V Satishji and Prakash Mehta convinced him not to leave the party,” said a source in the know of things.
The implications of the split in the NCP are still unfurling in Maharashtra politics, Ms. Munde seems to in danger of being collateral damage in this game of thrones.
