Sarpanch murder: Who is Dhananjay Munde? Why did he resign as Maharashtra minister?

Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde resigned on Tuesday following an uproar over the murder of the sarpanch of Beed. Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis accepted Munde’s resignation, who was the state cabinet minister of food, civil supplies and consumer protection.

Dhananjay Munde tendered his resignation after his close aide, Walmik Karad, was accused of masterminding the murder of Beed sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh in December last year.

Also read: Karad ordered murder of sarpanch Deshmukh: CID charge sheet

Who is Dhananjay Munde

Dhananjay Munde is a leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) who sided with now Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar when he split from his uncle Sharad Pawar in 2023.

Munde is a member of the Maharashtra assembly from Beed’s Parali constituency. After winning from Beed by defeating Sharad Pawar faction’s Rajasaheb Deshmukh in 2024 assembly polls, Dhananjay Munde was inducted to the cabinet of the state, with food, civil supplies and consumer protection under him.

Under the previous Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government, Munde was also the guardian minister of Beed district, his hometown. Before that, under the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra government from 2019 to 2022, he served as the minister of social justice and special assistance.

Dhananjay Munde is the nephew of former union minister and BJP leader Gopinath Munde and is the cousin of the latter’s daughter Pankaja Munde. She also serves as the minister of environment and climate change, animal husbandry in Maharashtra.

Why did he resign

Dhananjay Munde resigned over the murder of Santosh Deshmukh, a sarpanch from Beed district, with videos and photos of the incident surfacing on social media. Dhananjay Munde's close aide, Walmik Karad, was arrested in the case for allegedly masterminding the murder.

Also read: Sarpanch murder linked to extortion, plotted by Munde aide: Charge sheet

The chargesheet of Deshmukh’s murder detailed the brutality of the case, inviting uproar from people, following which, Munde tendered his resignation on Tuesday. However, he cited medical reasons behind his decision.

While announcing his resignation, Dhananjay Munde posted on X, “My firm demand from the very first day has been that the accused in the brutal murder of the late Santosh Deshmukh from Massajog in Beed district should receive the harshest possible punishment. Seeing the photos that came up yesterday, my heart became extremely distressed.”

Also read: Maharashtra sarpanch’s killers recorded videos, made calls as they tortured him

“The investigation of this case has been completed, and the chargesheet has been filed in the court. Additionally, a judicial inquiry has also been proposed. Recalling my sense of discernment and considering that my health has not been well for the past few days, the doctors have advised me to undergo treatment for the next few days. Therefore, due to medical reasons as well, I have submitted my resignation from my ministerial position in the cabinet to the Hon. Chief Minister,” he added.

According to reports, Munde was not willing to resign initially before putting forth his side of the story in the assembly. However, his requests were turned down by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and deputy chief minister after the chargesheet of the case shed light on the brutal nature of the murder and torture of Deshmukh.

Santosh Deshmukh’s murder

Santosh Deshmukh, who was the sarpanch of Massajog village of Maharashtra’s Beed district was murdered in December 2024. He was abducted and then tortured for trying to foil an extortion bid on an energy company, according to the chargesheet filed by the Criminal Investigation Department last week. He was found dead on December 9, 2024.

The investigation agencies found that Dhananjay Munde’s close aide, Walmik Karad, was the main accused in the case, along with seven others who executed the killing. The accused recorded several videos and clicked many photos throughout the ordeal of Deshmukh, some of which found their way to social media on Monday.