Irked Gadkari cancels his dinner date with Munde

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Gopinath Munde will have to wait for his one-on-one meeting with the party's national president.

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Gopinath Munde will have to wait for his one-on-one meeting with the party's national president.

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Munde tirade against the Nitin Gadkari camp immediately after returning from Delhi on Thursday did not go down well with the latter.

An irked Gadkari on Friday cancelled the meeting he had arranged with Munde to sort out any differences. Gadkari wanted to address Munde's issues before the meeting of the party top brass on June 27 or 28.

Sources in the party said Gadkari was angry with Munde for saying that people had seen the worth of those who were plotting against him. Munde had also announced a statewide tour saying he would expose his rivals who were out to tarnish his image.

"Gadkari was supposed to return from Jharkhand on Friday evening and have an informal meeting with Munde over dinner in Mumbai. However, when he read about Munde's remarks, he decided to cancel the meeting,” said a senior BJP leader. "The party top brass had asked Munde not to make any comments that would show the party in a bad light. But it appears that he did not pay heed to it."

"Now we are not sure whether Gadkari will meet Munde in Mumbai," he added.

The BJP is now expected to meet on Monday in Delhi to sort out Munde's grievances.

Rumours of Munde quitting the party had been making the rounds for the past two weeks. The leader was sulking for being sidelined in Maharashtra. However, he claimed his allegiance to the BJP after a meeting with Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday.

His critics in the party alleged that Munde decided not to quit the BJP since he could not strike a good deal with the Congress.

The senior leader's supporters are confident that a meeting with Gadkari may take place on Saturday. However, there has been no confirmation of the same.