Pankaja Gopinath Munde of BJP and Dhananjay Munde of NCP.
Credit: DH File Photo
Mumbai: For the first time in more than a decade, the Munde cousins - Dhananjay Munde and Pankaja Munde - shared a platform in their hometurf of Beed in Marathwada region of Maharashtra on the auspicious occasion of Dussehra.
The cousins addressed a huge gathering Bhagwan Bhaktigad Sawargaon Ghat in Beed on Saturday, bringing smiles on the faces of their followers.
The tradition of Dussehra rallies in Beed was started by late BJP stalwart Gopinath Munde, who was a former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and ex-Union Rural Development Minister.
While BJP’s Pankaja (45) is the daughter of Munde, NCP’s Dhananjay (49) is the son of late Pandit Anna Munde, who was the older brother of the late political stalwart.
Among those present were Pankaja’s sister and former Beed MP Dr Pritam Munde, Ahmednagar MP Dr Sujay Vikhe-Patil, Dhangar leader Mahadev Jankar among others.
OBC Sangharsh Sena founder Prof Laxman Hake, who is leading the resistance campaign against the inclusion of Marathas as Kunbis in OBC, too was present.
The Mundes are from the Vanjari community, which comes under OBCs.
Asked that they are sharing the dais together, Pankaja said: “Thats not true…when Munde Saheb addressed rallies, we used to sit…this is the first time he is addressing Dussehra along with me.”
On the other hand, Dhananjay said: “That we are together today, there are smiles on the faces of people.”
Pankaja was the Rural Development Minister in Devendra Fadnavis-government, from 2014-19, and in 2019 Assembly polls, lost the family seat of Parli in Beed to Dhananjay, who was then part of the undivided NCP led by Sharad Pawar and now an important leader of Ajit Pawar-led NCP.
After the electoral loss, she was sidelined in Maharashtra politics and made BJP national general secretary. She was denied nominations to Rajya Sabha.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Pankaja was given a ticket from Beed instead of her sister, however, she lost the polls to Bajrang Sonwane of Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP). Later she was accommodated as an MLC.
The coming together of the Munde cousins could have an impact in Marathwada politics.
Pankaja introduces son Aryaman
Coinciding with the auspicious occasion of Dussehra, Munde on Saturday also introduced her son Aryaman Munde before a huge gathering of people in her hometurf of Beed in Marathwada region.
"He is my son Aryaman … he is very sweet … he is taller than me. He has come here to take darshans of Bhagwan Baba," she said, adding: "Yes…I love my son…you may feel so…but I love you all more." There was thunderous applause as she introduced Aryaman.