At her own Dussehra rally, Pankaja Munde takes swipes at both BJP and MVA government

‘Both, opposition and ruling parties, must rise above petty politics and address farmer issues, women’s safety concerns’ 

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Pune: While taking a swipe at the Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government over a number of issues, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Pankaja Munde took jibes at her own party at the Centre and in the State as well. She remarked that while the opposition (BJP) was interested only in toppling the ruling MVA, the latter was solely intent on clinging to power at any cost.  

“Every leader from my party announces the imminent collapse of the MVA government. The MVA leadership says that their tripartite alliance government is doing very well. But my question is, when is the opposition and the ruling parties going to rise beyond this petty politics. What are you doing for public welfare?” she asked,

She said this while addressing her own Dussehra rally at ‘Gopinathgadh’ (her late father and senior BJP leader, the late Gopinath Munde’s memorial) in Beed district. 

Munde, a bitter rival of BJP leader and former Chief Minister and leader of opposition (LoP) Devendra Fadnavis, announced that she would be touring the State to ensure justice for farmers as well as reservation for the OBC and Maratha communities. Ironically Munde has been recently elevated by the party as it’s national secretary.

The former State Minister, questioned the audience whether farmers had received any aid from the Modi-led BJP government or the Thackeray government, while ticking-off the State government over rising crimes against women. 

“There is a ploy to divide the Maratha and the OBC communities. The Marathas seek a quota for jobs and education while the OBC seeks political reservation. Both of these are backward communities…I shall not rest until I have secured reservation for both these communities,” she proclaimed, adding that she would be touring the State from December 12 and hold dialogue with sugarcane farmers. 

In the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly election, Munde suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of her estranged cousin, the Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) Dhananjay Munde from Munde’s stronghold in Parli-Vaijanath. 

Reacting to Pankaja Munde’s remarks, Dhananjay Munde remarked, “She appears to be extremely confused…on the one hand, it is her own party, the BJP, which is blatantly misusing every central agency from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a bid to topple the MVA. Now, she says that her aim is not to dislodge the ruling government but to strive for the wellbeing of the people. Pray, what was she doing for five years as a Minister in the previous BJP government?”  

Dhananjay Munde, who is the Minister for Social Justice in the state cabinet minister, further disclosed that his (MVA) government had recently announced a comprehensive package of Rs. 10,000 crores for rain-afflicted farmers. 

“Instead of censuring the MVA, Pankaja Munde would do well to use her influence with the Prime Minister and Home Minister Amit Shah to help secure more funds for Maharashtra’s farmers,” remarked the NCP leader. 

After the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls, a trust gap has emerged within the Maharashtra BJP leadership with the top brass fearing a possible intra-party revolt by its notable OBC leaders like Eknath Khadse (now in NCP), Pankaja Munde, former Minister Prakash Mehta and other leaders who were either denied a ticket or suffered upset defeats in the election. 

In December 2020, Pankaja Munde had staged a show of strength at Gopinathgadh on the occasion of her father’s birth anniversary which was attended by Eknath Khadse and Prakash Mehta. 

It is said that the prime reason for her disgruntlement with Devendra Fadnavis was the latter’s ‘authoritarian style’ of running the party and eliminating his potential ‘rivals’ in a Machiavellian fashion. The OBC leaders had blamed Fadnavis for engineering their defeats and denying them tickets.  

However, at the time, Pankaja Munde had emphatically quashed speculation of her possible exit from the party, while dubbing rumors of her staging a revolt as “vicious canards.”