Mumbai: The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) decision to field Pankaja Munde, daughter of former state minister and late senior party leader Gopinath Munde, from Beed in Maharashtra appears to be a deliberate move to woo Other Backward Class (OBC) voters. Is step.
OBCs constitute 52 percent of the state’s population. Pankaja, who has influence in the Vanjari community, is being seen as an emerging OBC leader. The BJP clearly sees the potential in Pankaja to garner support from the OBC community, which will be crucial not only in Beed, but also in seven other Lok Sabha seats in the Marathwada region, where pro-Maratha activist Manoj Jarange-Patil has demanded Maratha reservation. Had protested, especially against OBC quota.
Pankaja had lost the 2019 assembly elections from Parli in her home district Beed against cousin and then undivided Nationalist Congress Party member Dhananjay Munde. However, the political rivalry has now turned into a cordial relationship after the Ajit Pawar-led NCP joined the current Shiv Sena-BJP government led by Eknath Shinde. Dhananjay Munde is now the Agriculture Minister in the Mahayuti government.
On the Maratha and OBC quota controversy, Pankaja stood by her stance that the government should provide reservation to the Maratha community, which would also stand the test of law. He had strongly said that the bitterness between Maratha and OBC communities should end. After her name disappeared from the party’s list of Rajya Sabha candidates from Maharashtra, Pankaja had said that she was hoping for a position, but the formation of the ‘triple-engine’ government in Maharashtra left no constituency for her. I went.
On the question whether she would like to go to Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha, she had replied that it is too late to choose now. He had said, “It would be a big thing if my supporters in Beed and the rest of Maharashtra see me on that post.”
