BJP MP Pritam Munde supports wrestlers; sister Pankaja says,' I belong to BJP but BJP is not…'
2 min read 01 Jun 2023, 07:42 PM ISTPankaja Munde, BJP national secretary and former Maharashtra minister, says the party doesn't belong to her, but she belongs to the party
PremiumFormer Maharashtra minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national secretary Pankaja Munde on Thursday said that she belongs to the BJP but the party doesn’t belong to her. “I belong to the BJP. If I have a problem with my father, I will go to my brother’s house," she said, referring to the Rashtriya Samaj Paksha (RSP) led by Mahadeo Jankar. Pankaja Munde made these comments at an event.
Speaking at an event, she said that BJP is a big party and doesn’t belong to her.
BJP MP Pritam Munde supports wrestlers
Maharashtra's BJP leader Pritam Munde has now extended her support to the wrestlers protesting for over a month demanding action against Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
"It could be any government or any party. I believe that if a movement of this level is going unnoticed, it isn't fair. It should not go unnoticed, necessary attention should be paid to it," Pritam Munde said.
"Even though I am a part of this government, one has to accept that the way we should have communicated with the wrestlers has not happened," Pritam Munde added.
Munde sisters upset with the BJP?
Statements of BJP's Pritam Munde and Pankaja Munde led to speculations that the Munde sisters were probably upset with the BJP. While Pritam Munde differed from the party's stand on the wrestlers' protest, her sister Pankaja Munde said she belonged to the BJP but the BJP did not belong to her. Pankaja and Pritam are daughters of former Union minister Gopinath Munde who died in a car accident in 2014.
Pankaja Munde sidelined by state BJP?
Over the past few years, there have been speculations that Munde has been sidelined by the state BJP. After the first expansion of the Eknath Shinde-Fadnavis cabinet in August 2022, she had said she might not have been “qualified enough" to get a berth.
Pankaja Munde, daughter of late senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde, has maintained a low profile since her defeat in the 2019 assembly elections. She was a cabinet minister when BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis was the Maharashtra chief minister between 2014 and 2019.
Munde was defeated from Parli by Dhananjay, her cousin and Nationalist Congress Party leader, in the2019-Assembly polls in a bitter fight. Carrying forward the legacy of her father and former deputy chief minister of the state, the late Gopinath Munde, she represented the constituency for two terms. Her defeat was believed to be the result of her power tussle with Dhananjay started after Gopinath Munde chose his daughter as his political heir ahead of the 2009-Assembly polls. After the sudden demise of Munde in June 2014, the tussle intensified during the election. Munde had said publicly that her internal party detractors played a role in her defeat.
Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule said in January that some people were trying to create a rift between the party and Munde.
In the last state polls, she lost to her estranged cousin and Nationalist Congress Party leader Dhananjay Munde on her home turf Parli.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra's BJP leader Pritam Munde has now extended her support to the wrestlers protesting for over a month demanding action against Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
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