NCP Minister Dhananjay Munde, 49, has landed the Devendra Fadnavis-led Mahayuti government in its first major row. The growing protests from the Opposition parties and various social organisations over the murder of a sarpanch in Beed's Massajog, Santosh Deshmukh, has put Dhananjay in the eye of a political storm. The murder is alleged to have been “orchestrated” by Walmik Karad, a close aide of Dhananjay. A trusted lieutenant of NCP chief Ajit Pawar, Dhananjay has been no stranger to controversy, political as well as personal, in his two-decade-long political innings so far. Early career Born in Parli's Nathra, Munde's rise in Maharashtra politics has been turbulent. Initially mentored by his uncle and BJP leader late Gopinath Munde, Dhananjay entered politics as a party worker and was later appointed the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) president in 2007. A skilled orator, Dhananjay gained the trust of his uncle, managing the family’s political interests in Beed and overseeing Gopinath's Assembly constituency in Parli. For many, Dhananjay appeared to be the “political heir” of Gopinath’s legacy. However, tensions between them started in 2009 when Gopinath chose his daughter Pankaja to represent Parli in the Assembly, overlooking Dhananjay. While the BJP attempted to placate Dhananjay by appointing him to the state Legislative Council in 2010, their relationship gradually soured. The situation worsened when Dhananjay insisted on appointing one of his supporters as the president of the Parli Municipal Council – a move that Gopinath opposed. Gopinath drew accusation from his critics that he was becoming insecure about Dhananjay’s growing influence in Beed. With the BJP siding with Gopinath, Dhananjay switched to the NCP camp in 2012, following his father, Panditrao Munde, who did the same earlier that year. Officially, Dhananjay resigned from the BJP and as an MLC in 2013 to contest the 2014 Assembly elections from Parli on the NCP's ticket against his cousin. He lost the poll to Pankaja by over 25,000 votes. In 2019, however, Dhananjay managed to defeat Pankaja by over 30,000 votes. In the wake of the NCP's split, Dhananjay sided with the Ajit Pawar-led faction who aligned with the Mahayuti. In the 2024 polls, he retained the Parli seat by over 1.4 lakh votes. Close ties with Ajit Pawar Currently, Dhananjay is one of the few OBC leaders in the NCP after Chaggan Bhujbal. His allegiance mainly lies with Ajit, who had got him inducted into the NCP fold. This relationship proved crucial in his elevation to the position of the Leader of Opposition in the state Legislative Council in December 2014, shortly after his defeat in the 2014 Assembly polls. Ajit is known to have played a key role in Dhananjay's rise despite facing considerable opposition within his own party. His insistence on getting Dhananjay on board was part of a broader strategy to build up a new team of non-Maratha leaders in order to offset the perception of the NCP being a Maratha-centric party. In November 2019, Dhananjay’s old equations with the BJP propelled him into a significant role during the state political crisis, when Ajit made a bid to form the government along with the BJP. This Ajit-led NCP's alliance with the BJP lasted just for three days. Though the experiment failed, which led to the formation of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, Dhananjay's closeness to Ajit ensured his inclusion as a minister in the Uddhav government. Dhananjay has always remained staunchly loyal to Ajit, even publicly criticising NCP founder Sharad Pawar when the latter rebelled against his uncle to split the party, alleging that "Since 1978, his (Sharad Pawar) political career has been one of betrayal and treachery". Multiple rows Despite being affiliated to Ajit, Dhananjay's behaviour has caused rifts among several NCP leaders in the Beed region. BJP MLA Suresh Dhas, who has been vocal in accusing Dhananjay of being allegedly linked to the Deshmukh murder case, was once his associate but later they fell out. Consequently, in 2017, Dhas was expelled from the NCP. Most of the six BJP MLAs from Beed are also opposed to Dhananjay and have publicly stated that they do not want him as the district’s “guardian minister”. Sources said such “vehement opposition” against Dhananjay stems from the perception that he has “tried to turn Beed into his personal fiefdom”, with allegations made against him for “displaying favouritism in administrative postings” towards the Vanjari community to which he belongs. Dhananjay has also faced personal controversies. In 2021, a woman, who was reportedly his second wife’s sister, accused him of rape, though she later withdrew the allegation. His second wife has levelled multiple charges against him over the years, even leading to her brief imprisonment. Despite these scandals taking a toll on him, Dhananjay has largely remained unaffected by them. This time, however, Dhananjay's aide Karad has been allegedly implicated in the sarpanch Deshmukh murder case. Over the last two weeks, Dhananjay has found himself at the center of a snowballing crisis gripping the new Mahayuti government, with CM Fadnavis coming under increasing pressure to seek his resignation. While Dhananjay, who is the Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection, has emerged out of previous storms unscathed, the latest one might be the biggest test of his career so far.
