Breaking her silence over the intense speculation about her quitting the BJP, former Minister and senior party leader Pankaja Munde said here on Tuesday that her Facebook post, in which she had indicated she would decide on her “future journey” on December 12, had been “misinterpreted” and she had no plans to quit the party.
Talking to media persons a day after her Sunday’s Facebook post and subsequent removal of the BJP’s name from her twitter handle sparked intense speculation that she might quit the BJP on December 12, Pankaja said: “I had not put the Facebook post to indulge in pressure tactics within the party. I am a loyal party worker. Rebellion is not in my blood. My Facebook post has been misinterpreted. I am upset with misleading news reports. I am very committed to the BJP. Rumours are being spread to suggest that I am leaving the BJP”.
Earlier in the day, former Ministers Vinod Tawade, Babarao Lonikar and Ram Shinde met Pankaja at her Mumbai residence and requested her not to take any extreme step of quitting the BJP. Talking to media persons after his meeting with Pankaja, Tawade said: “Every year Pankajatai puts out such posts on Facebook. But, this year, her political rivals misinterpreted her post. She is upset because of this”.
Informed sources in the BJP said that former chief minister and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis spoke to Pankaja over telephone and reportedly prevailed upon her not to quit the party. “Both the leaders discussed the current political situation in the state,” sources said.
Notwithstanding Pankaja’s denial about her quitting the BJP on December 12, the birth anniversary of her father late Gopinath Munde, sources close to her said that she was planning to make to make a major announcement on December 12, while not disclosing as what it could be.
On Monday, the Maharashtra BJP had gone into a tizzy, after Pankaja —through a Facebook post put out on Sunday and subsequent removal of the BJP’s name from her twitter handle on Monday — hinted at the possibility of her quitting the parent party and joining another party.
As Pankaja was incommunicado all through Monday after she removed the BJP’s name from her twitter handle, the BJP had gone into a damage control mode and denied that she had any plans to be quit the party, as was being interpreted by the political observers from Sunday’s Facebook post and her decision to remove the party’s name from her twitter handle.
Forty year-old Pankaja is the daughter late BJP leader Gopinath Munde. Pankaja had taken over the legacy of her father Gopinath Munde after the latter died in a road accident in the national capital on June 3, 2014. A former minister in the previous BJP-led saffron alliance Government in the state, she was defeated by her cousin Dhananjay Munde in the October 21 State Assembly polls by a margin of 30.701 votes in their home constituency of Parli in Beed district of Marathwada.
Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut had added fuel to ongoing speculation that Pankaja might join the Shiv Sena, through his cryptic remarks made during his interactions with media persons at Nashik. Asked if it was true that Pankaja would be joining the Shiv Sena, Raut said: “Many prominent BJP leaders have expressed their willingness to join the BJP. If you are talking about Pankaja Munde, you will get know about her plans on December 12”.
Talking to media persons, Maharashtra BJP president said: “At a time we have an accidental Government in the state. It is but natural that we get to see the ruling front leaders indulge in this kind of wishful thinking. There is absolute truth in the rumours that Pankajatai would quit the BJP. Many of us have spoken Pankajatai. I don’t think there is any possibility of her taking such a step(of quitting the BJP)”.