Opinion In Dhananjay Munde’s exit, a tale of crime and complicity

Last month, at a Loksatta event, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis spoke of his government’s position on corruption: “I am not saying political extortion is rampant. But wherever middle-level leaders are indulging in ‘dadagiri’ it will be dealt with firmly…” With the resignation of Food and Civil Supplies minister Dhananjay Munde from his post a day after the Budget Session, ostensibly on grounds of ill health, but actually in the shadow of a case of brutal murder, the CM seems to be walking the talk, even if belatedly. Ever since the killing of Santosh Deshmukh, the 45-year-old sarpanch of Beed’s Massajog village on December 9, for trying to stop an extortion bid on a windmill energy project, accusations have singed Munde. Beed has long been a Munde stronghold, and his close aide, Walmik Karad, is among the prime accused in the case. The minister’s resignation is welcome.

For a government that came to power in November with an overwhelming mandate and assurances of tackling the real challenges facing people — unemployment, agrarian distress, issues of law and order, including corruption and women’s safety — a crime such as this one has a troubling fallout. Already under fire following the rape of a 26-year-old in a Pune bus stand, the attack on actor Saif Ali Khan and the conviction of another NCP minister, Manikrao Kokate, in a housing fraud case, now temporarily stayed, the delay in action in the Deshmukh case draws unflattering attention to the new Mahayuti government. Videos of the abduction and torture of Deshmukh went public on Monday. Munde’s resignation raises questions about his induction in the first place — the cabinet expansion that gave him a ministerial berth took place on December 14, five days after the murder and three days after the FIR naming Karad was filed.

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There are economic fallouts to consider as well. In 2024, Maharashtra ranked 13th in India for ease of doing business. As CM, in his first foreign assignment to the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, Fadnavis said that the state had signed 54 MoUs with investments worth Rs 15.75 lakh crore and that about 98 per cent of it would be through FDI. In a state starved of employment opportunities, this would work out to 16 lakh new jobs and an opportunity to reinforce its position as an economic powerhouse. Incidents of organised extortion and the suggestion of political patronage can spark apprehensions that stand in the way of realising such opportunities. The work of transparency and accountability in governance has to continue beyond Munde’s resignation.