Even as the BJP hopes to make political gains among the OBCs in Maharashtra through the induction of Dr. Bhagwat Karad in the Union Council of Ministers, the move is said to have hurt Pankaja Munde and her sister, Lok Sabha member Preetam Munde. They come from one of the largest groups among OBCs, the Vanjaris.
Prior to the Union Cabinet expansion, Ms. Preetam Munde was touted to be included in it. However, on Wednesday, her elder sister and former Maharashtra Minister Pankaja Munde tweeted, saying the Lok Sabha member from Beed in Marathwada (Ms. Preetam) was in Mumbai and not travelled to Delhi, giving rest to the speculations. The BJP has chosen Mr. Karad as Minister of State (Finance). He hails from Aurangabad in the Marathwada region and said to be a prominent OBC face within the party.
The late Gopinath Munde, father of the Munde sisters, was considered one of the tallest OBC leaders in the State, and since his death in 2014, the family feud has escalated, resulting in Ms. Pankaja even losing the Assembly polls in 2019 against her cousin Dhananjay Munde from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). After the defeat, Ms. Pankaja was sidelined in the State unit of the BJP and she has repeatedly shown signs of her discontent with the State leadership, particularly with former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
When asked about the Munde sisters and whether they are unhappy, Mr. Fadnavis said, “Have they told you? Our central leadership takes decisions and we all follow.”
NCP dig at Amit Shah
Meanwhile, the NCP on Thursday took a dig at Union Home Minister and the country’s first Cooperation Minister Amit Shah, saying both Maharashtra and Gujarat have a vast cooperative sector and Mr. Shah had a huge experience of running a cooperative bank. “The bank was discussed for exchanging the highest number of notes during demonetisation. We expect that he will help to ease the restrictions on the cooperative sector, which are being planned,” said NCP State president Jayant Patil.
The Central government must intervene on restrictions on the urban cooperative banks through the Reserve Bank of India. “Our leader Sharad Pawar will soon be bringing the attention of all on how the cooperative sector is being harmed. We expect Amit Shah ji to resolve all the problems,” he said.
