Munde faces off with community’s spiritual leader

MUMBAI: In October 2014, ahead of the assembly polls, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Pankaja Munde, still mourning her father and senior BJP leader Gopinath

MUMBAI: In October 2014, ahead of the assembly polls, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Pankaja Munde, still mourning her father and senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde’s demise, addressed a huge rally of her father’s followers, the Vanjari community, from Bhagwangad, a resting place for a saint worshipped by the community.

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This rally with BJP president Amit Shah by her side was seen as Pankaja’s anointment as the community’s leader. Not only did Pankaja win the election, BJP romped home with 15 of the 48 seats in Marathwada, the party’s best tally from the region.

Two years on, things have soured between Munde, now the state’s women and child development minister and the sitting guru of Bhagwangad, Mahant Namdev Shastri Sanap, threatening to put a wedge in the community’s loyalities between the two as well as Munde’s position as leader. The release of an audio clip on TV channel and in WhatsApp groups in which Pankaja is heard getting back at Shastri, besides disbursing government funds in Gram Panchayats of her supporters has led to Opposition demanding her resignation.

The increasingly ugly tussle is getting played out with an eye on the Dussehra rally on Tuesday, where nearly 10 lakh Vanjaris gather at Bhagwangad.

The tradition also has been that Munde, earlier Gopinath and for the past two years, Pankaja, addresses the community.

This year, Shastri has said that the gathering is no place for politics and Pankaja will not be able give a speech here. He also accused Pankaja of trying to politicise the issue and using force to capture Bhagwangad.

“One cannot try and capture Bhagwangad by force and it cannot be used for political means. That’s why I have said there will be no political speeches on Dussehra. It is unfortunate that Gopinathrao’s daughter is trying to do this,’’ said Shastri, in an interview to Marathi news channel IBN Lokmat. Just last year, Shastri called Pankaja his daughter when they shared dias at the annual Dasara rally.

Pankaja told HT that she did not want to comment . “I have tremendous faith and respect for Bhagwangad. It is my home.’’

Sources close to her however said that this was a political conspiracy against her by her rival and cousin, also Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council, Dhananjay Munde, who has been vying for the same political space.

Sources in BJP told HT that the fracas has its roots in an ego tussle between the two with the mahant feeling that Pankaja was getting too big for her boots.

“The setting up of Gopinathgad, a memorial for her father, didn’t go down well with Shastri as it was seen as an alternate power centre. While Pankaja said it will focus on development and politics, they also introduced religious functions there. Post elections, a case was filed against the trust for violating code of conduct. Shastri feels that Pankaja did nothing to get this case annulled,” said a party worker .

So far, Pankaja has not commented on the issue. Mahadev Jankar, leader of Rashtriya Samaj Saksh, said this was a conspiracy to malign Pankaja, who has established herself as the leader of the community.