Pankaja Munde asked to reconsider ‘political break’ as Madhya Pradesh elections loom

BJP leader Pankaja Munde asked to reconsider decision to take break from politics by party's top leadership due to Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections. She was uncomfortable with Ajit Pawar's inclusion in Maharashtra govt.

BJP national secretary and former Minister in the Maharashtra government Panjaka Munde, who recently announced her decision to take a break for ‘one-two month’ from politics, has been asked by the party’s top leadership in New Delhi to “immediately reconsider” her decision, especially in light of the crucial Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections on the horizon.

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Ms. Munde, along with the former general secretary of the BJP, P Muralidhar Rao, was given charge of the State, but since the announcement of a split in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Ajit Pawar faction joining the NDA government in the State, Ms. Munde has publicly declared her intention to take a sabbatical.

State leaders said that Ms. Munde was uncomfortable with the inclusion of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) rebel leader Ajit Pawar and eight other NCP MLAs, including her estranged cousin Dhananjay Munde, in the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government.

Mr. Munde is a close confidant of Mr. Ajit Pawar and in the 2019 Assembly election, defeated his cousin, Ms Pankaja Munde, from the family pocket borough of Parli in Beed district, and was allotted the Agriculture portfolio recently.

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Sources within the party have disclosed that Ms. Munde received a call from a prominent party leader from Delhi expressing concern over her decision to step away from her political responsibilities without consulting the senior leadership. “It was not a very friendly call,” said the source.