BJP mocks Thackeray Sena’s ‘offer’ to Pankaja Munde

However, Ms. Munde rubbished suggestions of her being disgruntled with the party leadership, calling herself a true dyed-in-wool worker of the BJP

Even as some leaders from the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) made an ‘offer’ to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Minister Pankaja Munde to join the Opposition ranks, Ms. Munde on Friday refuted allegations of her being ‘upset’ with the State BJP leadership.

BJP State president Chandrashekhar Bawankule, who shared the dais with Ms. Munde, a national general secretary of the BJP during a campaign for the Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC) polls in Beed district, stressed that some parties were deliberately spreading rumours questioning Ms. Munde’s loyalty to the BJP.

“The BJP is in Pankaja Munde’s blood. She will not even think of deserting the party. Maharashtra has seen her leadership. We [the BJP] fully stand by her. She has been given responsibility at the central level. So, those people spreading rumours about her loyalty should desist from such utterances,” Mr. Bawankule said, speaking in Beed, the Munde family’s stronghold.

Earlier, Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson and MLC Manisha Kayande had claimed that Ms. Munde had been shabbily treated by her party and was being deliberately sidelined. Ms. Kayande’s statement followed those of Sena (UBT) leaders who had been urging Ms. Munde to join the Thackeray Sena and leave the BJP.

“I am a true dyed-in-wool worker of the BJP. The BJP and the Munde family can never be separated,” Ms. Munde said, rubbishing suggestions of her being disgruntled with the party leadership.

In the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly election, Ms. Munde had suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of her estranged cousin, the Nationalist Congress Party’s Dhananjay Munde from the Munde’s bastion in Parli (in Beed).

It was said that the prime reason for Ms. Munde’s disgruntlement with the party was due to current Deputy Chief Minister (and then Chief Minister) Devendra Fadnavis’ ‘authoritarian style’ of running the BJP and eliminating his potential ‘rivals’ in a Machiavellian fashion.