Mumbai: Even as the party leaders are stepping up attack against the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra, the BJP leader and former minister Pankaja Munde on Sunday took a totally different line saying that there was no need to play politics during the present coronavirus pandemic. Munde, who is the daughter of party veteran late Gopinath Munde, ahead of her father’s death anniversary on June 3 has thereby expressed strong displeasure over her party leaders firing salvos against Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in particular and the government in general.
At the outset, Munde, who was denied ticket during the recent election to the Maharashtra Legislative Council, clarified that she was currently not active in politics as she was focusing more on social work. However, she admitted that the opposition should oppose which will help bring into light the government job. However, her advice to the ruling party was that it should continue to function undeterred by the opposition attack. ‘’It is necessary for ruling and opposition parties to do their job but this is not a time to play politics,’’ she noted.
Munde’s statement will cheer the MVA leaders who have slammed BJP for playing ‘’dirty’’ politics instead of uniting with the government in the war against virus. On the other hand, Munde’s candid observation may displease few leaders in the BJP who are at the front to corner MVA government.
Contrary to criticism by BJP leaders, Munde admitted that the MVA government has taken a slew of decisions to fight coronavirus pandemic and they are not improper. However, she suggested that the state government should take more steps and consult experts to curb COVID-19 pandemic. The government needs to initiate more measures if the number of coronavirus patients surge.
Munde said there has been a large scale migration due to the coronavirus crisis. She emphasized the need for aggressive testing of migrated people to curb spread of the virus.
On denial of party nomination for the upper house election, Munde said she did not feel let down. She clarified that she has accepted the party decision.
