Members of MVA protest against Dhananay Munde at Vidhan Bhavan | Photo Credits: Vijay Gohil
Mumbai: Even as a huge clamour was on over the role of minister Dhananjay Munde in the gruesome killing of Massajog sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh and the web of nefarious activities in Beed district, the Mahayuti government took almost three months to take his scalp.
Although questions were raised over the inability of the Mahayuti to drop him, what emerged now is that the politics, rather than the public outcry, reigned supreme in asking Munde to resign.
In fact, it was around December 15 last year that the Mahayuti leaders were in a dilemma over inducting him into the state cabinet – swearing in for which took place in Nagpur.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Ajit Pawar was not very keen to induct him when the reports of the murder of Deshmukh put forward various theories with fingers towards Munde’s role. The NCP, say insiders, had summoned Prakash Solanke, a senior MLA and ex-minister to Nagpur, as he was at his native place Majalgaon in Beed district. Even though Solanke travelled 456km by road to Nagpur, the honour was given to Munde, ostensibly to please the Vanjari community he belongs to.
Why was Munde preferred over Solanke? It was for political reasons. The BJP was keen that a prominent face from the OBC community had to be there when the NCP was to drop Chhagan Bhujbal, who represents the Mali community.
For Munde, the first hurdle was cleared, but not the public opinion, which was going against him. Reports kept coming in that Munde’s boss, Ajit Pawar, was not happy with the developments in Beed district. However, political sources say the BJP was against asking the minister to quit.
The reasoning given was that the BJP wanted to keep a check on Pankaja to take over the leadership of the Vanjari community, an influential vote bank in at least five districts of the state. The party was witness to the clout enjoyed by the late Gopinath Munde over his community vote bank.
Hence, the issue of Dhananjay Munde’s resignation was attached to his community vote bank rather than the emotional flare-up over the murder of Deshmukh.
Now, after the shocking pictures of the gruesome killing of Santosh Deshmukh became viral, the Mahayuti leaders may have thought delaying the resignation of Munde was generating strong public opinion against the government, and the decision followed.
What does it mean to Mahayuti?
For the NCP, led by Ajit Pawar, maintaining a grip over the politics in Beed and neighbouring Ahilyanagar district is going to be a challenging job since Munde has been a prominent OBC face of the party. The party has three MLAs in Beed, where it is locked in an intense struggle with the Sharad Pawar-led NCP.
For the BJP, keeping Pankaja in its control will be an easier job than her cousin Dhananjay, whose political revival in the immediate future is rather difficult.
For the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, maintaining a grip over the Beed district is going to be much easier thanks to the good network. The party won Lok Sabha in a close fight and won the Beed assembly when Mahayuti won all the remaining seats from the district.
The Shiv Sena UBT and the Congress have a negligible presence in the district.
Pawar closeted with party colleagues
NCP chief Ajit Pawar chaired an important meeting with MLAs, state leaders and local leaders at his official residence, Deogiri, in Malabar Hill on Tuesday evening. The meeting was called to discuss the party’s future course of action in the wake of Munde’s resignation and the uncertainty surrounding another minister, Manikrao Kokate.
Sources revealed that a mechanism is being developed to ensure grassroots units remain connected to the state leadership while keeping party MLAs informed. Legislators have been instructed to maintain regular contact with district units, and a special cell is being set up to follow up on issues raised by local units.
