State BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Thursday met BJP national secretary Pankaja Munde, who has expressed her displeasure with the party on several occasions, at her residence in Mumbai.
Although the BJP described the meeting as a courtesy call to extend Diwali greetings, the move is seen as an approach by the party to defuse differences ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.
A senior party official said, “Though Pankaja Munde is the BJP national secretary in-charge of Madhya Pradesh, he was spending more time in Maharashtra. Nor was she seen campaigning in Madhya Pradesh.”
However, downplaying the differences, Bawankule said, “During Diwali we often visit each other’s house and extend greetings. There’s no politics in it.”
Besides Pankaja, her sister Pritam Munde, a two-term MP representing Beed constituency, was also present at the meeting with Bawankule.
On Wednesday, Pankaja Munde celebrated ‘bhai dooj’ with her cousin Dhananjay Munde, of the NCP, in Mumbai.
In 2019, Pankaja Munde contested the state assembly election from Parli, in which she was defeated by Dhananjay Munde.
Since then Pankaja had hoped that the BJP would reinstate her in the state legislative council or give her greater responsibilities in Maharashtra. The central leadership’s decision to shift her to Delhi politics in 2020 did not sit well with her, according to her supporters.
Although Pankaja always pledged her loyalty to the BJP, she often used public rallies to express her displeasure through veiled threats.
At the annual Dusshera rally held in Bhagwangad, he had said, “I will not leave the field till the 2024 polls. I will do justice to my supporters.”
A few months ago she had expressed her frustration with the state and the central government after the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Commission seized assets worth Rs 19 crore from the Beed sugar factory.
Pankaja had alleged that she was being singled out by some to tarnish her image in public.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
First published on: 17-11-2023 at 00:10 IST
