Mumbai: Two days after the cabinet expansion of Modi government, the BJP leader and former minister Pankaja Munde on Friday broke the silence over media reports that she was upset over the non-induction of her sister and two-term MP Pritam Munde in the union cabinet. She said that she believed that the party might have taken the right decision by inducting the right people in the cabinet.
A visibly emotional Pankaja said that her father late Gopinath Munde’s life was also full of struggle and she will continue his fight and stand by the downtrodden. Pankaja, who was defeated by NCP nominee and her cousin Dhananjay Munde in the state assembly elections held in 2019, said no one has the potential to end her career. She responded after Shiv Sena cried foul over the recruitment of Gopinath Munde’s aid and Rajya Sabha MP Bhagwat Karad as the minister of state instead of his daughter Pritam who has been MP for two terms and claimed that this is BJP’s ploy to end her career.
Pankaja scoffed at speculations of factionalism and division in the party. “There is no divide within BJP, and there is no team Devendra and team Narendra within the party,’’ she noted.
‘’The party’s belief is to put the nation first, and then the party’s interest and lastly individual interests, and both Pankaja and Pritam have always abided by that dictum,’’ said Pankaja.
Incidentally, former chief minister Devedra Fadnavis shared Pankaja’s statement saying that ‘’Nation first, then party and then individuals. This is how BJP functions.’’
Pankaja further added that she is not unhappy just because her sister Pritam did not get a place in the cabinet expansion. Media reports claim that Pankaja said that they were not hoping for ministership and even congratulated Kharad on his induction.
