New Delhi, April 20: Senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde has resigned as general secretary for allegedly being ignored on the appointment of party office-bearers in his home state of Maharashtra.
The immediate provocation for Munde’s resignation, which was “communicated” to BJP president Rajnath Singh today, was the nomination of Madhu Chavan as president of the Mumbai unit.
He charged the leaders with taking a unilateral decision. Chavan was chosen by Maharashtra BJP chief Nitin Gadkari with whom Munde has had a running battle for the past three years.
Munde is the brother-in-law of the late Pramod Mahajan. Until Mahajan’s death in 2006, the duo’s writ ran over the Maharashtra BJP unit and nobody else was allowed to have a say. However, Munde’s clout has since diminished as Gadkari grew assertive.
Sources said Munde wanted to appoint Mahajan’s daughter Poonam Rao to the post Chavan got. But Gadkari cited her “inexperience”.
Poonam had campaigned for Narendra Modi, her late father’s bete noire, in the last Gujarat elections.
Kaptan Singh Solanki, the organising secretary in charge of Maharashtra, confirmed that Munde had put in his papers. Asked if the resignation was accepted, he said: “We won’t take it.”
Rajnath said: “I have not received the resignation as yet but we will talk to Munde and Gadkari and sort out the issue.” Asked if he was aware of Munde being sidestepped, Rajnath said: “The party president cannot interfere in each and every state and district level appointment. Chavan was appointed after a committee, comprising senior leaders like Ram Naik, Ved Prakash Goyal and Balasaheb Apte, cleared his name.”
It is believed Munde was not too happy with spokesperson Prakash Javadekar’s nomination to the Rajya Sabha either because he had rooted for Rekha, Mahajan’s widow.
Sources said it was time for the Maharashtra BJP to “come out of Mahajan’s shadow”. “The entry of his immediate family member is bad news because there are too many unsavoury associations,” said a source, recalling his murder and son Rahul’s alleged links with drug peddlers. However, they admitted Munde was the party’s only crowdpuller.
