Mumbai: Putting the ball in his deputy’s court, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said Ajit Pawar will take a decision about NCP minister Dhananjay Munde who is under fire over the Beed sarpanch murder case. The statement by the CM makes it clear that neither he nor Pawar are in the mood to sack Munde.
Speaking to media persons in Delhi on Thursday, the CM said Ajit Pawar’s decision about the continuance of NCP leader Dhananjay Munde in the state cabinet will be final. Despite demands coming from various quarters, Munde had said that he would resign only if CM Fadnavis or Deputy CM Pawar asked him to.
The minister was in Delhi recently for a meeting where he spoke with the media persons. When he was asked about resigning on moral grounds, he shot back saying his morality was towards his supporters from his constituency, Parli.
The resignation of Munde has been sought ever since his close aide Valmik Karad surrendered to the police in an extortion case related to the brutal murder of Massajog village sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh on December 9.
While BJP MLA Suresh Dhas has been constantly raising his voice over various issues shrouded with huge corruption, social activist Anjali Damania submitted a dossier to Deputy CM Pawar over the alleged nexus between Munde and Karad.
Despite that Ajit Pawar has been maintaining a stand that since the inquiry at various levels was on, action will be taken against those found guilty. Meanwhile, responding to media queries over his meeting with Munde, Fadnavis said Munde is a minister and there was nothing secret about the meeting.
According to sources, the CM might be avoiding meddling in the Beed episode, a stronghold of the Vanjari community to which Munde belongs. The BJP may not want to antagonise the community which commands a sizeable vote bank not just in Beed but adjoining districts of Marathwada as well as neighboring Ahilyanagar and Nashik.
Munde is also using his community card to save himself and his future politics. Even Ajit Pawar does not want to take a call and instead may be expecting Munde to resign on moral grounds. Pawar also wants to protect the community vote bank for his party. Hence the matter has become politically tricky, opined the sources.
