With Bhujbal back in the cabinet, Dhananjay Munde’s political revival in question

The 49-year-old Munde, another prominent OBC face in the NCP, was expecting to eventually return to the cabinet

Mumbai: Senior NCP legislator and prominent Other Backward Classes (OBC) leader Chhagan Bhujbal’s induction into the Maharashtra cabinet on Tuesday has put a question mark over the political revival of Dhanajay Munde, the man he is replacing.

Dhananjay Munde was forced to resign from the cabinet in March following the arrest of his close aide, Walmik Karad, in connection with the murder of Beed sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh. (PTI)

Munde was forced to resign from the cabinet in March following the arrest of his close aide, Walmik Karad, in connection with the murder of Beed sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh. The 49-year-old Munde, another prominent OBC face in the NCP, was expecting to eventually return to the cabinet. But now, with Bhujbal occupying his vacant berth, there is uncertainty over his future.

Both Bhujbal and Munde were among the key leaders who pledged allegiance to Ajit Pawar when he split the Sharad Pawar-led NCP in June 2023. Munde was known as Ajit Pawar’s close confidante and had also stood solidly behind him when he tried to split the party unsuccessfully in 2019, while Bhujbal had remained loyal to Sharad Pawar.

When Ajit Pawar’s NCP faction joined the Eknath Shinde-led BJP-Shiv Sena government in 2023, he included both Bhujbal and Munde in the NCP’s team of ministers. Then, during the Maratha quota agitation led by activist Manoj Jarange-Patil, Bhujbal was vocal against the demand for including Marathas in the OBC quota.

While there was anger against Bhujbal among the Marathas, he still managed to win the 2024 assembly elections from Yeola in Nashik district, as the Mahayuti returned to power. However, Ajit Pawar chose not to retain Bhujbal as minister and picked Munde as the party’s OBC face in the NCP’s team of ministers.

The brutal murder of Santosh Deshmukh in Beed on December 9, though, flipped things around for Munde. As the allegations and protests against Karad grew, several opposition leaders also trained their guns on his political benefactor, Munde. Not willing to risk the anger of the people, both chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar eventually asked Munde to resign. Ironically, Bhujbal had then stood behind Munde.

A senior NCP leader said that Munde was hoping for rehabilitation. “When he resigned, he assumed that he would be re-inducted into the cabinet once all the accused were charge-sheeted and the trial began. It was considered that there could be a reshuffle of the cabinet after the local body polls, slated to be held after the monsoon. The vacant slot in the cabinet following his resignation was not filled immediately, which also gave him hope,” he said.

However, the central government’s decision to have a caste census and the upcoming local body polls compelled Fadnavis and Pawar to bring Bhujbal back into the cabinet. The 77-year-old is a vocal OBC leader with a pan-Maharashtra presence. Having him in the government would make Mahayuti’s OBC appeal stronger, the leader added.

Things would be further problematic for Munde as he is also locked in a silent power tussle with his cousin Pankaja Munde for the political control of Beed district. Dhanajay had defeated Pankaja in the 2019 assembly elections. The duo buried the hatchet ahead of the 2024 elections as Pankaja gave up her claim on the Parli constituency in Beed. She was then inducted as a minister by the BJP in the Mahayuti 2.0 government. Now, with Dhananjay out of the cabinet and no immediate chances of him returning as a minister, there could be a fresh tussle between the duo, according to NCP leaders.

Meanwhile, Munde himself welcomed Bhujbal’s induction as a minister. “Senior leader and our guide Bhujbal saheb took oath as a cabinet minister. Heartiest congratulations and wishes for his new tenure,” he posted on social media on Tuesday.