Finally BJP has arrived a truce with the agitated leader and former minister Pankaja Munde on her father late Gopinath Munde's birthday today. Munde, who is sulking over help by a section of party leaders to the rival NCP in the assembly poll which she lost from Parali seat, declared that she won't quit the BJP even tough she is no longer a part of the BJP's core team in Maharashtra. However, she said she will fight her detractors by firmly staying in the party.
Munde at the first public gathering after her defeat dared the BJP leadership to sack her saying that her father was one of the founders of BJP and was instrumental in its growth in Maharashtra. She clearly put the ball in BJP's court saying that the party is free to take a decision on whether it wants to keep her in the party or not. "As of now, I am not going to leave BJP. If the party wants to throw me out, let the party do it," she said.
In her speech, Munde alleged that she lost the Parli seat to her cousin and NCP leader Dhananjay Munde because some BJP leaders (read Devendra Fadnavis) didn't want her to win the seat.
On Tuesday, she skipped a meeting of the state BJP core committee in Mumbai. On Thursday, she announced that she was no longer a member of the core team. "The day the BJP decides to take decisions democratically, I will decide to join its core committee," she said in her speech.
The speculation was rife that Munde may quit the party and join Shiv Sena after her controversial post on Facebook stating that in the changed political scenario there was the need for her to see how she could chalk her future path ahead and serve people.
Munde said she will be holding a state-wide 'Mashal Rally' across Maharashtra starting from January. She also said she will hold a day-long hunger strike in Aurangabad. "This will be not against any party or individuals. It will be a symbolic hunger strike to attract the attention of the leadership towards the issue of Marathwada."
