This is an archive article published on July 9, 2021
After Pankaja and Pritam Munde denied cabinet berth, supporters pour scorn on Devendra Fadnavis, want them to dump BJP
Some supporters even urged the Munde sisters to consider leaving the BJP. "Time has come to take a hard decision... enough of these insults," said a few of them.
While supporters of BJP national secretary Pankaja Munde and her sister, MP Pritam Munde, have expressed their disappointment at the latter being denied a position in the Union Cabinet during the recent reshuffle, Pankaja Munde said on Friday that she was not upset with the party leadership.
“Pritam was the right candidate for a ministerial berth…she is talented, hardworking, a record holder on election terrain, a young face, a woman, a bahujan face… she has always attended all-party meetings.. However, we are not objecting to the party decision not to pick her….The party might have thought those selected have better quality. It is not just Pritam Munde who was not considered, there are others like Heena Gavit who were also left out,” she said.
“Her name was doing the rounds…the supporters expected her inclusion…They are expressing their disappointment out of love for us…We cannot change their feelings…,” she said.
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However, on social media, supporters have held former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis responsible for the “injustice” meted out to the family of late Gopinath Munde, one of the leaders credited for the growth of the BJP in Maharashtra. Some supporters even urged the Munde sisters to consider leaving the BJP.
After the swearing-in ceremony, neither Pankaja nor Pritam had congratulated those Maharashtra leaders who were given ministerial berths.
At the press conference, Pankaja said, “…I have congratulated all those who were given ministerial berths. I am again congratulating all those from across the country who made it to the Cabinet…”.
On Pritam Munde not being considered, Pankaja said, “Pritam was the right candidate for ministerial berth… she is talented, hardworking, a record holder on election terrain, a young face, a woman, a bahujan face.. She has always attended all party meetings… However, we are not objecting to the party decision not to pick her… The party might have thought those selected have better quality. It is not just Pritam Munde who was not considered, there are others like Heena Gavit who were also left out.”
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Pankaja said supporters are upset because they wanted Munde’s name in the ministry. “Pritam Munde’s name was doing the rounds… It always happens in our case. The supporters anticipated her inclusion… They are expressing their disappointment out of love for us… We cannot change their feelings…”
Fadnavis had said on Thursday, “It is the Prime Minister and party leadership which decides who will make it to the Union ministry.”
When asked about the anger among Munde supporters, especially in Beed, Jugal Lohiya, city president of BJP, said, “…Those who are angry are politically immature. They should understand that there are certain limitations for the Prime Minister to pick his cabinet. If not now, Pritam Munde will get an opportunity later on.”
Shalinitai Karad, a member of BJP’s state committee, said, “We all were hoping that Pritam Munde…. will get an opportunity. However, she could not make it. But I feel the party might be planning something big for her. We are sure that will happen soon.”
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NCP state spokesperson Umesh Patil said, “Dr Bhagwat Karad rose politically because of Gopinath Munde. While he was included in the cabinet, the Munde family, which is behind his rise, was insulted… BJP honours outsiders but insults those who were original BJP leaders.”
Manoj More has been working with the Indian Express since 1992. For the first 16 years, he worked on the desk, edited stories, made pages, wrote special stories and handled The Indian Express edition. In 31 years of his career, he has regularly written stories on a range of topics, primarily on civic issues like state of roads, choked drains, garbage problems, inadequate transport facilities and the like. He has also written aggressively on local gondaism. He has primarily written civic stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad, Khadki, Maval and some parts of Pune. He has also covered stories from Kolhapur, Satara, Solapur, Sangli, Ahmednagar and Latur. He has had maximum impact stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial city which he has covered extensively for the last three decades.
Manoj More has written over 20,000 stories. 10,000 of which are byline stories. Most of the stories pertain to civic issues and political ones. The biggest achievement of his career is getting a nearly two kilometre road done on Pune-Mumbai highway in Khadki in 2006. He wrote stories on the state of roads since 1997. In 10 years, nearly 200 two-wheeler riders had died in accidents due to the pathetic state of the road. The local cantonment board could not get the road redone as it lacked funds. The then PMC commissioner Pravin Pardeshi took the initiative, went out of his way and made the Khadki road by spending Rs 23 crore from JNNURM Funds. In the next 10 years after the road was made by the PMC, less than 10 citizens had died, effectively saving more than 100 lives.
Manoj More's campaign against tree cutting on Pune-Mumbai highway in 1999 and Pune-Nashik highway in 2004 saved 2000 trees.
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