BJP leader Pankaja Munde’s praise for Pawar and Thackeray sparks political speculation in Maharashtra

Maharashtra’s political circles are abuzz with speculation after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and party’s national secretary Pankaja Munde praised Nationalist

Maharashtra’s political circles are abuzz with speculation after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and party’s national secretary Pankaja Munde praised Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and chief minister Uddhav Thackeray in the past few days. Munde on Tuesday lauded 79-year-old Pawar for “working during the Covid-19 pandemic”, and at her Dussehra rally at Bhagwangarh in Beed on Sunday, she congratulated Thackeray for the relief package of ₹10,000 crore his government announced for flood-hit farmers.

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Munde, who attended a meeting with Pawar in Pune on Tuesday to discuss issues faced by sugarcane cutters, tweeted: “Hats off to Sharad Pawar… Your stamina to hold meetings, touring and working for hours even during the pandemic is simply commendable. Though I hail from different party, ideology and type of politics, Mundesaaheb [her late father Gopinath Munde] has taught me to respect the hard-workers.”

Munde’s tweet, which was in Marathi, raised eyebrows, especially in the backdrop of Eknath Khadse moving from BJP to NCP.

On Sunday, while praising Thackeray, Munde had indirectly slammed her detractors within BJP. “Some leaders at the state-level have vowed to finish me politically,” she said.

However, Madhav Bhandari, vice-president, BJP, said, “These are baseless rumours. She has been recently appointed as national secretary of the party and will have opportunity to work in sync with national leadership. She has bright future in the party.”Munde, who is from the Vanjari community and is considered a prominent OBC face of BJP, is believed to be upset after her defeat in the 2019 Assembly elections. She had been expecting her rehabilitation as Member of the Legislative Council (MLC), but was not among the people nominated by the party to the Upper House. Instead, BJP recently appointed Munde as one of its national secretaries.

Munde, just like Khadse, is one of the senior BJP leaders from Maharashtra who has been unhappy with former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is at the helm of the party’s affairs in the state since 2014.

Her supporters feel her detractors within the party had tried to cut her to size when she was part of the state cabinet in the Fadnavis government. Leaders close to her also claimed that her defeat in the Assembly elections from Parli in Beed district was orchestrated from within the party. She was defeated by her cousin, Dhananjay Munde, who had moved from BJP to NCP in July 2013.

Munde had publicly expressed her disappointment after the results and dared BJP to remove her. She had even announced that she would not be part of the core team of the state BJP. In December last year, she put out an emotional social media post that held “party insiders responsible for her defeat”.

BJP leaders in the state, however, said Munde is upset, but they don’t see her quitting the party like Khadse. “It is true that she is upset over treatment meted out her along with few other senior leaders like Khadse. She had almost revolted against the state leadership in December last year, after her defeat, but was later pacified by the leadership. After Khadse’s exit, she has become more vocal politically and has praised leaders from other parties as part of her strategy to build pressure on her detractors within party. She is unlikely to quit the party immediately, as her importance as an OBC leader has increased after the exit of Khadse, another OBC leader,” said a party leader.

Vishwambhar Choudhari, political analyst, said, “Sena and Congress do not have base in Beed district, leaving only option of NCP for Munde. But, for it, she will first have to patch up with her cousin Dhananjay who has built his base in the constituency and district. Pankaja may compromise on the constituency and other Assembly segments like Pathardi, where Vanjari community is in dominance. But having said this, it will be too early to say that she will quit her party.”

An NCP leader said although Munde has been trying to develop cordial relations with their leaders, Shiv Sena would be her first choice because of the local political equations.

Recently, Sena leader and former minister Arjun Khotkar had said they would be more than happy to induct Munde in their party. Her father shared cordial relations with the Thackeray family despite their political differences at times.