BJP woos Pankaja; party to band together at Aurangabad protest

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will put up a united front on Monday as it stages a one-day fast under the helm of former minister and Other Backward Class (OBC)

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will put up a united front on Monday as it stages a one-day fast under the helm of former minister and Other Backward Class (OBC) leader Pankaja Munde in Aurangabad, to draw the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government’s attention to the issue of chronic water scarcity in Marathwada.

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The decision is being viewed as a bid to woo the former BJP minister and daughter of senior leader, late Gopinath Munde, who has been upset with the party leadership since her defeat in the state Assembly polls.

“I had announced at my December rally that I would organise a one-day fast in Aurangabad. I wanted to show that though I have lost an election, I will continue to fight for social causes through my organisation. I was going to go ahead with it when my party leaders said that they would all like to be there and support the cause,” Munde told HT.

The core committee of the party, which met late on Wednesday night to finalise the upcoming organisational programmes of the state unit, decided to participate in the protest to be held outside the divisional commissioner’s office in Aurangabad under Munde’s leadership.

It was decided that the party’s senior state leaders, former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Union minister Raosaheb Danve, former speaker Haribhau Bagade, and leader of Opposition in Council Pravin Darekar will also be present at the event, allowing the spotlight to be on BJP rather than solely on Munde.

During her December 12 rally, Munde had also come down hard on her party, slamming them for the state of affairs in the Maharashtra unit. The rally had set tongues wagging as Munde, in her candid speech, had rejected core committee membership and cautioned the leadership to not put BJP in reverse gear. Since the rally, however, BJP leaders said the party had made efforts to reach out to Munde and address her grievances.

“The state chief Chandrakant Patil told her [Munde] that instead of it being a protest under her organisation, it should be a party event and all party leaders should attend under her leadership. Party president JP Nadda also spoke to Munde in Delhi and promised party support,’’ said a senior party leader.

Party insiders said that after losing power in Maharashtra, the BJP does not want internal rebellion. “We also can’t afford to lose an OBC face like Munde,’’ said a party functionary.