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Pankaja Munde removes BJP from Twitter bio as speculation mounts after Facebook post
While her close aides and state BJP chief Chandrakant Patil have rubbished the rumours, Munde, the BJP’s Other Backward Classes (OBC) face in the state, has been incommunicado.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Pankaja Munde’s Facebook post on Sunday and the removal of BJP from her Twitter bio on Monday fanned speculation within political circles that she may quit the party and join the Shiv Sena.
Munde, former rural development minister in the Devendra Fadnavis-led government, has been upset after her defeat in the Assembly polls to her cousin and rival, NCP leader Dhananjay Munde. In her Facebook post, Munde said she would announce her plans on December 12.
While her close aides and state BJP chief Chandrakant Patil have rubbished the rumours, Munde, the BJP’s Other Backward Classes (OBC) face in the state, has been incommunicado.
The Facebook post addressed to her followers said: “You have been asking me for my time. And I will give it to you, but after eight-10 days. I need some time to myself. What to do next ? What path should I follow ? What can I give to my people? What does my strength lie in? What do people expect of me..I will think about all this and come before you on December 12.”
The birth anniversary of her father and senior BJP leader, the late Gopinath Munde, falls on December 12 and she plans to hold a rally at a memorial built for him at Gopinath Gad in her home district of Beed.
Meanwhile, Sena MP Sanjay Raut claimed that Munde was in touch with Sena leadership.
“Not just Munde, but several other BJP leaders are in touch with Sena leadership. We will see what step she takes on December 12. She is welcome,” said Raut.
Those close to her, however, claim that the post is a bid to galvanise her supporters after the electoral debacle and signal her strength to the BJP.
“The public meeting is a way to reach out to her constituency and followers. There is unrest among them because of her defeat. There is also a feeling that her defeat was engineered and she wants to address that and talk about her future. There is no plan to quit the BJP,” said an aide of Munde.
Another leader close to her said the BJP must accommodate her, given that her cousin would now try to hijack her position in the district.
“The party should accommodate her in the legislative council and give her the post of the leader of Opposition there. That would be fair. After all she is the party’s OBC face,” said this leader.
Munde has inherited her father’s political constituency and large following among the Vanjaris, who fall within the larger OBC community ( they get separate reservation under the Nomadic Tribes category in Maharashtra).
With another OBC leader, Eknath Khadse, sidelined, BJP can ill-afford to lose Munde, who is also among the few BJP leaders in the state with mass base. OBCs have been a support base for the BJP.
“There are rumours circulating in social media that Munde is planning to leave BJP, which is not true. Her father has played a big role behind BJP’s standing today. After an electoral defeat, where one has worked hard, there is bound to be some dejection and introspection. That does not mean she is leaving the party,” said BJP state chief Chandrakant Patil.
Munde has been locked in a tussle with her cousin Dhananjay, since her entry into politics, which indirectly split the family
Dhananjay joined the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) as he felt his uncle was promoting his daughter instead of him.
It is learnt that Munde has been upset also about the good relations between Dhananjay and former CM Devendra Fadnavis. The two have been on good terms, first as BJP colleagues and in the past five years in their respective roles as the Leader of Opposition in the Council and the CM. A section of Munde’s supporters claimed that Fadnavis has always supported Dhananjay through the last five years and during the elections, which came at a cost to his cabinet colleague.
There were also reports post the 2014 polls that Munde harboured CM aspirations and that had also fuelled her rivalry with Fadnavis.
She has since publicly denied CM aspirations.
Soon after the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was formed by the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress, Khadse had slammed Fadnavis and the senior BJP leadership for the lack of collective leadership in the party.
Khadse was denied ticket to contest polls along with four other senior leaders, like former ministers Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Vinod Tawde, Prakash Mehta and former city chief Raj Purohit.
