Gopinath Munde is BJP’s deputy leader in Lok Sabha

In a bid to ensure truce in the old Maharashtra turf war, L.K. Advani, as chairman of the BJP parliamentary party, appointed Gopinath Munde the party’s deputy leader in the Lok Sabha.

In a bid to ensure truce in the old Maharashtra turf war, L.K. Advani, as chairman of the BJP parliamentary party, appointed Gopinath Munde the party’s deputy leader in the Lok Sabha.

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The decision is aimed at reducing friction between Munde and BJP chief Nitin Gadkari.

Gadkari had a tough time when Munde, along with his brother-in-law, late Pramod Mahajan, called the shots in state politics. Munde was deputy CM in the Shiv Sena-BJP government from 1995 to 1999, of which Gadkari was a junior minister. He was general secretary in the outgoing set-up under Rajnath Singh.

Munde, 60, is said to have told Advani that he would prefer to work in Parliament to give Gadkari a free hand.

Munde replaces Sushma Swaraj, who on Monday was recognised as Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha by Speaker Meira Kumar.

Advani was invested with the power to appoint deputies in the two Houses after the parliamentary party’s constitution was amended last Friday to create the post of chairman. Soon after his election, Advani, besides promoting Swaraj, retained Arun Jaitley as leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha.

Advani also re-appointed Ramesh Bais, former union minister of state from Chhattisgarh, as the BJP chief whip in the Lok Sabha. Similarly, Surinder Singh Ahluwalia was retained deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha and Maya Singh the chief whip.