Maharashtra Council polls: major setback for Pankaja Munde

Pune: In a blow to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Maharashtra Rural Development Minister Pankaja Munde, her close supporter Ramesh Karad switched sides to join the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Wednesday.

His move comes days before the biennial elections to the Legislative Council from six local bodies’ constituencies on May 21.

According to political observers, the defection was engineered by NCP leader Dhananjay Munde – Ms. Munde’s cousin and bitter rival — who was present when Mr. Karad joined the party at a function in Osmanabad district.

Mr. Karad, an important leader from Latur district, was brought into the BJP fold by the late Gopinath Munde. After the latter’s untimely death in a road accident in 2014, Mr. Karad transferred his loyalties to Mr. Munde’s daughter Pankaja.

However, Mr. Karad was reportedly miffed with Ms. Munde, and the BJP, after he was refused a ticket in the 2014 Assembly elections. “I had lost my way,” said Mr. Karad referring to his tenure with the saffron party.

‘End of political exile’

“I was with the NCP since its inception in 1999. Then I joined the BJP and therein began my political exile. Today, after rejoining the NCP, my exile is over,” he said.

Like a prodigal son, Mr. Karad’s re-entry into the NCP, days before the much anticipated biennial elections to the Legislative Council marks a setback for the BJP as he is an influential leader in the Beed- Latur-Osmanabad belt.

“The BJP has slighted its true party workers. It has not given supporters of Gopinath Munde like Mr. Karad their due,” Dhananjay Munde, Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Legislative Council, said at the function.

Biennial elections will be held for the Raigad-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Nashik, Wardha-Chandrapur-Gadchiroli, Parbhani-Hingoli, Amravati and Osmanabad-Latur-Beed seats.

The NCP has staked its claim to the Osmanabad-Latur-Beed seat after senior Congress leader Dilip Deshmukh, brother of late Union Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, expressed reluctance to contest again after serving three terms.

Munde vs Munde

The move to bring back Mr. Karad is seen by observers as yet another step on Dhananjay Munde’s part to checkmate his estranged cousin.

The bitter feud between the cousins snowballed during the 2009 Maharashtra Assembly elections when Gopinath Munde decided to field his daughter, Pankaja from the Parli Assembly constituency, which prompted Dhananjay Munde, to break away and cast his lot with Sharad Pawar’s NCP.

Since then, besides vying for the political supremacy of Beed district, the rivalry between the Munde cousins has extended to the control of the Vaidyanath sugar factory in the district as well.