Gopinath Munde to meet Advani, Gadkari today

Gopinath Munde, BJP's sulking deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, will meet party leaders LK Advani and Nitin Gadkari in Delhi today. Munde on Saturday met M Venkaiah Naidu, who oversees party matters in Maharashtra.

Gopinath Munde, BJP's sulking deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, will meet party leaders LK Advani and Nitin Gadkari in Delhi on Sunday. Munde on Saturday met M Venkaiah Naidu, who oversees party matters in Maharashtra.

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Munde, who is believed to have had troubled relations with Gadkari in Maharashtra for several years, recently took umbrage at Vilas Mathkari, considered close to Gadkari, being made the Pune party chief instead of his candidate, Yogesh Gogawale.

This apart, sources said Munde wants to be given charge of the party's affairs in Maharashtra, with overarching powers. Munde is known to have been in touch with leaders from other parties. They include Vilasrao Deshmukh of the Congress, Chhagan Bhujbal of the NCP and Uddhav Thackeray of the Shiv Sena, sparking speculation that Munde was planning to quit the BJP.

Munde, however, said, "It is not right to pose this question."

Naidu said after meeting Munde on Saturday evening that things were on track. "Certain problems have cropped up in Maharashtra in recent days. We have had a frank discussion. We understood his concerns. We have come to certain conclusions and will discuss matters with Gadkari ji and Advani ji on Sunday and then decide. I am confident we will find a solution."

Munde said earlier in the day, "I will place the people's concerns before the party's top leaders and hope they will give me justice."