As she joined hands with senior party leader Eknath Khadse in seeking to build up a pressure group within her party, Maharashtra’s BJP leader and former Minister Pankaja Munde on Thursday announced her resignation from the party’s core group and said she would not leave the party, but it is for the party leadership to sack her from the party.
Speaking at a rally organised at Parli on the occasion of her late father and senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde’s 70th birth anniversary, Pankaja said, “After I wrote a Facebook post, there was speculation that I would rebel against the party and quit the party. I would not quit the party.”
She gave indications of distancing herself from the party. “I will set up my office in Mumbai on January 26 and then I will undertake a day-long token fast at Aurangabad on January 27,” she said.
Indirectly hitting out at former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for reports in media that she was aspiring to become the Chief Minister, Pankaja said, “I contributed my bit to bring the BJP man as the Chief Minister. On the last day of campaign, there were reports that Pankaja considers herself as the CM. Where do these reports come from?. Even if I said that I want to become CM, what is wrong in it?”
Throwing weight behind Pankaja, senior BJP leader Eknath Khadse hit out at Fadnavis for being “ungrateful” towards late Gopinath Munde.
Khadse said, “It was after Munde built the party that it came to be known as the bahujan samaj party. It is because of late Gopinathjrao’s contribution that the BJP has become a major party as it is today.”
Khadse said, “I am unhappy that Pankaja was defeated in the Assembly polls. Actually, her defeat was engineered by the partymen. Even effort was made to finish my career. When the same thing started with Pakaja, I extended my support to her.”