Amid growing rift, no BJP presence at Gopinath Munde death anniversary events

The distance between the Munde family and the BJP has been growing for a while. Today, the Munde influence, what’s left of it, is restricted to his bastion of Beed.

(2/2)#लोकनेते #GopinathGad pic.twitter.com/HdyPc7MNFn

— Pankaja Gopinath Munde (@Pankajamunde) June 3, 2023

Apart from his own prowess as a leader, Gopinath Munde also drew his influence from his relations with Pramod Mahajan, the late powerful BJP leader whose sister he was married to.

With Gopinath’s wife Pradyna choosing to stay in the background after his death, the mantle of his political legacy had passed on to the eldest of their three daughters — Pankaja. While she is a national BJP secretary and former Maharashtra minister, middle sister Pritam is an MP for the second time, representing Beed Lok Sabha constituency. The youngest, Yashyashsree, is a lawyer.

Pankaja has been vocal for some time about being “ignored” by the party. In her most recent statement, she said that while she belonged to the BJP, the party did not belong to her. She said at a public rally that she was “not afraid of anyone”, and if things came to that, “I would be more than happy to work in the fields, cutting sugarcane.”

Now, Pritam too has come out in the open about their disaffection with the party.

The most glaring example of this dissonance with the BJP was their decision on Saturday to not call any BJP leader for the event to mark the death anniversary of Gopinath Munde. While ostensibly this was because they held only social events like blood donation camps and religious ceremonies, senior NCP leader Eknath Khadse was a notable guest at the Munde home in Parli.

The presence of Khadse, an old friend and former colleague of Munde, raised several eyebrows, coming as it did on the heels of Pankaja’s statement. Speaking later, Khadse, who also visited Munde’s memorial, called Pankaja’s statement regarding her treatment by the BJP as “painful”.

(2/2)#लोकनेते #GopinathGad pic.twitter.com/MlYLb8BQug

— Pankaja Gopinath Munde (@Pankajamunde) June 3, 2023

“I feel uneasy because there is a lot of difference between today’s BJP and the party it was earlier… A family member of someone who served lifelong to expand the party (BJP) saying that ‘I will go and cut sugarcane…’ is absolutely unfortunate,” Khadse said.

Khadse left the BJP in 2020, blaming senior leader Devendra Fadnavis for systematically clipping his wings and embroiling him in a false land deal case.

In the 2019 Assembly elections, when Pankaja lost the Assembly polls from home turf Parli, to her estranged cousin and NCP candidate Dhananjay Munde, she too pointed fingers at Fadnavis and at sabotage from within the BJP. While she consequently lost any chance at becoming a minister, the family’s hope that Pritam would be accommodated with a berth at the Centre was also dashed.

On June 3, as the Munde family, including his wife and three daughters, held his death anniversary, there was no BJP leader among their list of invitees. (Twitter/@Pankajamunde)

The Mundes also saw a message in the induction instead of Bhagwat Karad as Union Minister of State for Finance in the Modi Cabinet. Karad, who hails from Aurangabad in Marathwada region, was close to the late Munde.

Pankaja had indicated then that all options were open to her, saying: “I will determine my course of action at an appropriate time.”

However, given her loss in the last Assembly elections, Pankaja’s bargaining powers are limited. Her followers might ambitiously project her as CM face at rallies, but few take that seriously. And the Central leadership has often ticked her off, telling her to focus on consolidating the party base in the family turf instead.

As per those close to her, what Pankaja really wants is more of a say in Maharashtra politics, and sees her appointment as national secretary as a way of keeping her away from the state. Highly placed sources in the party said: “Pankaja had hoped for important positions either as Leader of the Opposition in the state Legislative Council or state BJP president.” She was denied both.

Following her appointment to a central role, Pankaja had talked of having “started massive preparations for the 2024 polls”. “If the party gives a ticket, I will contest the 2024 polls,” she had said, adding that she would not “bow before anybody” and didn’t hanker for any power or post.

A senior BJP leader said that given her weakened position, Pankaja was not in a position to demand anything anyway, and was not helping her cause either by attacking the party and its leaders. “Modi and Amit Shah are not someone to buckle under such tantrums,” the leader said, adding that given that she had been made minister in the 2014 Fadnavis-led Maharashtra government, she had little to complain.

State BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule denied there were any issues between the party and the Munde family. “Their association with the BJP is deep-rooted. Pankaja and Pritam are both working hard for the organisation. All this talk about unhappiness is a campaign by our opponents to create a rift in the party.”

A senior state leader who tried to plead Pankaja’s case with the top leadership was categorically told to mind his own business.

The speculation now in party circles is if Pankaja is ready to jump the BJP ship. Both the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP have reached out to her to join them, instead of facing “humiliation” in the BJP.

However, others say the BJP is willing to give her a long rope considering the respect with which the late Munde is held still in the party and state. The party is also reportedly apprehensive of a backlash from the powerful Vanjari community — spread out over select districts of Marathwada and North Maharashtra — to which the Mundes belong.