Pankaja Munde to shift her constituency to avoid friction with cousin Dhananjay
Munde was defeated from Parli by Dhananjay, her cousin and Nationalist Congress Party leader, in 2019-Assembly polls in a bitter fight. Carrying forward the legacy of her father and former deputy chief minister of the state, the late Gopinath Munde, she represented the constituency for two terms
Mumbai: The OBC face of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its national secretary Pankaja Munde, who is believably fighting her detractors within and outside the party, has decided to end her decade-long feud with cousin Dhananjay Munde. She is also planning to change her constituency in the forthcoming assembly elections.
Giving up her traditional Parli constituency in Beed district, the former minister is expected to shift to Pathardi constituency in Ahmednagar district, giving a full stop to her decade-old tussle at the local level.
The raids on Vaidyanath sugar factory by the central agency for GST violations are also assumed to have significance in the backdrop of the move by the leader.
Munde was defeated from Parli by Dhananjay, her cousin and Nationalist Congress Party leader, in 2019-Assembly polls in a bitter fight. Carrying forward the legacy of her father and former deputy chief minister of the state, the late Gopinath Munde, she represented the constituency for two terms. Her defeat was believed to be the result of her power tussle with Dhananjay started after Gopinath Munde chose his daughter as his political heir ahead of the 2009-Assembly polls. After the sudden demise of Munde in June 2014, the tussle intensified during the election. Munde had said publicly that her internal party detractors played a role in her defeat.
Pankaja is now expected to change her traditional constituency and shift to Pathardi in the neighbouring district. “In a spiritual programme held at Bhagwangad, a popular pilgrimage for the Wanjari community in Beed, workers expressed their wish that the cousins should come together to bury their differences. Both Pankaja and Dhananjay, in the presence of their priest, said that they respect their relationship and are together despite the political differences,” said a local party leader from Beed.
He said that Pathardi will be a safer constituency for her than Parli. “The percentage of Wanjari voters is more in Pathardi and would prove to be a cakewalk for Pankaja. The sitting BJP MLA Monika Rajale has been winning from the constituency with support from Pankaja. She offered to resign as MLA to make way for Pankaja to the assembly after she lost from Parli,” he said.
Pankaja Munde said that at least 7 to 8 MLAs from across the state (especially the constituencies where Wanjaris are dominant) had offered to resign for her. “Pathardi is one of them,” she said.
Another party leader at the state level said that Pankaja will not quit the party even though she seems unhappy. “She is upset with the party’s state leaders but has support from the central leadership. If Pankaja decides to shift her constituency, she will have to convince the central leadership of the party. It is not clear if the leadership has to back for the same. On the other hand, Pankaja will have to safeguard the political career of her MP sister Pritam Munde. If the party turns down her plan to shift the constituency, she will have to accept the decision and fight from Parli,” he added.
GST raid on coop factory controlled by Munde, she expresses surprise
Meanwhile, central agencies held raids on the Vaidyanath sugar factory in Beed, controlled by Pankaja Munde. The raids were reportedly held for the GST violations by the factory, which is believed to be financially in bad health. The factory has an outstanding of ₹12 crore towards GST. “The raids are surprising for me and I learnt about them from the media. Vaidyanath is not the only sugar factory (to violate the tax norms), but action is taken against us. The factory was not operational and it multiplied its difficulties. The sudden raids on the factory have surprised us. It needs to be checked who leaks the information to the media,” she said.
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