Environment min Pankaja Munde rubbishes rumours of starting new party

Pankaja Munde's comments about her late father sparked rumors of a new party, but she clarified that she remains with the BJP, rejecting the speculation.

MUMBAI: “The number of people who loved my late father, Gopinath Munde, were so many that they could form a political party of their own.” These words of BJP leader and environment minister Pankaja Munde at a function in Nashik on Sunday promptly stirred up speculation in the political grapevine: that Munde was on the verge of parting ways with the BJP and forming a separate party. However, she rubbished the rumours on Monday.

Environment min Pankaja Munde rubbishes rumours of starting new party

While speaking at the function, Munde had said that the people associated with her father similarly loved her. “Munde Saheb had a treasury of virtues and people followed his legacy,” she said. “He nurtured a party called the BJP and made it the party it is today. He worked for the party since its inception and ensured that it prospered immensely.”

The word in political corridors following Munde’s speech was that she was hinting at future plans of forming a separate outfit. Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said that if she was, it should be welcomed. “We all loved Munde Saheb,” he said. “He was a real votary of the Yuti (Shiv Sena-BJP alliance) and has made a significant contribution towards it. If Pankaja Munde is thinking of forming a separate party based on ideology, she should take the lead and go for it.”

NCP politician Chhagan Bhujbal, who is the face of the OBC in his party, said that anybody was free to form a separate party. “However, I am not sure if floating an outfit identified with a specific community and making it successful is possible,” he said. “Also, despite her statement, it isn’t necessary that she will float a separate party. I think she just wanted to speak about Gopinath Munde’s political legacy.”

The speculation over Munde, an OBC politician, floating a separate outfit has its basis in the fact that she was unhappy within the BJP for five years until she was inducted into the state cabinet in December last year. She has, on many occasions, criticised the BJP state leadership, holding it responsible for sidelining her.

Munde, however, trashed all the conjecture on Monday. Clarifying the statement she made in Nashik, she said, “A speaker who spoke before me at the function mentioned how Gopinathji Munde was very popular among people and how they loved their leader. The speaker said that his followers were so many that they could make for a new party. Replying to this, I said that the party had already been formed and the people who loved him have been associated with that party (the BJP). It’s clear that I never hinted at forming a new party. My statement is being distorted.”