Amid vehement clamour for his resignation over an extortion-linked murder of a sarpanch in his home district of Beed, Maharashtra Minister Dhananjay Munde found himself trouble on Wednesday, as late senior BJP leader Pramod Mahajan’s sister-in-law Sarangi Mahajan accused him and his cousin minister Pankaja Munde of having “grabbed” her late husband’s land.

Sarangi, wife of Pravin Mahajan who shot dead his elder brother and former Union Minister Pramod Mahajan at the latter’s home in April 2006, has knocked Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’s door, demanding justice for her.

While Dhananjay belongs to the NCP (Ajit Pawar), Pankaja – daughter of late BJP leader Gopinath Munde -- is from the ruling BJP. Both are ministers in the Devendra Fadnavis-led MahaYuti government. Mahajans and Mundes are related, because Gopinath Munde had married Pramod’s sister Pradnya.          

Sarangi, whose husband Pravin died of multi-organ failure within four years after he killed his own brother and influential politician Pramod, has opened a Pandora box, by dragging two ministers in a fresh controversy at a time when Dhananjay Munde is having a tough time of alleged involvement in the Rs two crore extortion case linked to Sarpanch’s murder.

Sarangi has alleged that Walmik Karad, the key accused in the Rs 2 crore extortion case who is close to both Dhananjay and Pankaja, had threatened her with dire consequences and got a piece of her family land worth Rs 3.5 crore transferred in the name of Dhanjay Munde’s employee Govind Munde for a mere Rs 21 lakh in Parli taluka of Beed district. After the land transfer, 7X12 extracts of the land were changed.

“People who threatened me were the accomplices of Walmini Karad. I met Dhananjay Munde and told him how her land came to be transferred in the name of his employee. He did not help in any way. In this land grab, both Dhananjay and Pankaja are involved,” Sarangi alleged.

Having already taken up the matter with the NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar, Sarnagi is hoping that chief minister Fadnavis will help in getting land back.

Sarangi’s charge against the Munde cousins comes less than a week after Dhananjay refused to resign from his post as the Maharashtra Minister.

The development came after Walmiki Karad surrendered to the police in the Sarpanch murder-linked extortion case.  

Sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh (45) was allegedly killed for attempting to thwart the extortion bid on the windmill company. He was first abducted, brutally tortured and later killed in broad daylight near the windmill company office on the afternoon of December 9, 2024.

While refusing to resign from his ministerial post, Dhananjyay Munde wondered: “Why should I resign? I am in no way directly or indirectly involved (in the murder or extortion cases)…the police is probing the matter.”