Despite the punishing afternoon heat on Saturday, more than 3,000 people came out to listen to Pankaja Munde’s speech at a Bharatiya Janata Party youth rally in Parli, a town in Maharashtra’s Beed district. Most of them were students, whose colleges had declared the day off so that they could show their support for the daughter of BJP leader Gopinath Munde, who represented the constituency in the Lok Sabha for five years until he died in a car crash in June.
On stage, local BJP leaders were going out of their way to dismiss the idea that the party expects sympathy votes in the Maharashtra assembly polls on October 15. “[Gopinath] Munde sahab is no longer with us, but don’t vote for Pankaja tai only out of pity,” said one youth leader. “Vote for her because of the work she has done for five years as our MLA.”
A few minutes later, while being cheered on as Maharashtra’s tigress, Pankaja Munde took the mic and undid all the appeals in the previous speeches.
“When I lit my father’s pyre, I promised myself I would not let the world forget his name,” she said, recounting the shock her family went through when they heard of Gopinath Munde’s sudden death in a car accident on June 3, days after he had been sworn in as a minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new cabinet.
“When I look into your eyes, I see myself reflected as my father," she told her rapt audience. "This election, close your eyes, think of Munde sahab and vote for us two sisters.”
All in the family
When the state goes to the polls this week, both Pankaja Munde and her sister Pritam Munde-Khade will face the voters. Pankaja Munde seeks to retain her seat as the legislator of the Parli assembly constituency. Pritam Munde – a doctor with no previous political experience – has been pushed to stand for her father's seat in the Lok Sabha bypoll from Beed district.
Since few major political parties are willing to field candidates against her (the Shiv Sena has stepped back out respect for its good relations with Munde), Pritam Munde-Khade’s only notable challenger is local Congress leader Ashokrao Patil.
Most observers rate her chances highly. “As an MLA for the past five years, Pankaja has learnt some skills from her father and can give good speeches, but Pritam does not have a political personality at all,” said Prakash Lakhera, a senior journalist at Parshvabhoomi, a Marathi newspaper in Beed district. “But because of people’s emotional attachment to Munde, she is likely to win the Lok Sabha seat.”
In the Parli assembly segment, Pankaja Munde's strongest rival is her cousin, Dhananjay Munde, who defected to the Nationalist Congress Party in 2013 after his uncle chose his daughter as his political heir.
Dhananjay Munde has a tough fight on his hands, even though much of Beed district has been voting for the Congress-NCP combine for several years. In fact, of the six Vidhan Sabha seats from Beed, five are occupied by NCP legislators. The Munde family fiefdom is restricted to Parli.
But in Parli taluka, because of Gopinath Munde's efforts to bring education, employment and recognition to the Vanjara caste, the late politician is revered.
“Munde sahab started two sugar factories that brought jobs to 15,000 people, including my brother,” said Trembag Dhakne, a sugarcane farmer, referring to the Vaidyanath and Pangeshwar sugar factories in Parli taluka. An excited group of villagers who had come to Parli city especially for Pankaja Munde’s youth rally begin listing the many benefits that Gopinath Munde had brought his followers, from school and college scholarships to free medical services.
“He worked for everyone, not just the Vanjaras,” said Jeevan Sadhvai, another farmer. “But the municipality of Parli city is in the hands of Dhananjay Munde’s NCP, and look at how bad the roads are.”
Most of Parli’s roads are, indeed, riddled with potholes, broken at the edges and in need of a sweep or two.
But at the other end of the city, outside Dhananjay Munde’s lavish office and residence on an unpaved hillock, his loyalists seemed oblivious to these problems.
“The NCP says it has spent Rs 40 crore to improve Parli’s roads, and the work done is first class,” said Machindra Karad, a Dhananjay Munde supporter from the taluka’s Mandwa village. Like Karad, many of Dhananjay’s followers used to be BJP supporters before he joined the NCP, and they still have great regard for Gopinath Munde.
“But Pankaja is not a leader like her father,” said Somnath Phad, a 25-year-old Parli resident who had been the taluka vice-president of the BJP Yuva Morcha for the past five years. “I moved to the NCP just two days ago because when I approached Pankaja tai with a problem, she could not even remember who I was. When I came to Dhananjay sir, he remembered me by name.”
Dhananjay Munde, on his part, is countering the sympathy for his cousins with the one buzzword that the BJP has been using for the national election. “People want development,” he said. “There is a need for jobs for skilled labour in my area, and I intend to launch a five-star MIDC zone over 1,000 acres in Parli.”
Beyond the Munde stronghold
Outside of Parli, in other parts of Beed, the respect for the different Mundes is more muted.
“I will vote for Pritam Munde for the Lok Sabha seat because of her father’s reputation, but he hasn’t really worked much for areas beyond Parli,” said Chandrakant Kulkarni, a photo studio owner in Ambejogai city whose relatives work on fields in neighbouring villages.
Farmers in Beed – a dry, drought-prone district – rely almost completely on rainwater for survival, and after facing a drought for two years, Kulkarni says people are desperate for jobs. “Unemployment is a huge problem in every family in the district, and farmers really need other options,” said Kulkarni, who is sceptical of both the BJP and the NCP and plans to place his bets on the Shiv Sena for the assembly polls.
State view
However, the BJP’s state-level leaders are not worrying too much about the dynamics of the various Beed assembly segments. Recent opinion polls have given the BJP a clear lead in the Maharashtra assembly polls, based on Modi’s continued stardom after the national election, and the party’s leadership reflects that confidence. A poll by India TV-C Voter poll suggested that the BJP would in 132-142 seats in the 288-seat assembly, followed by the Shiv Sena with between 50 and 60 seats. An ABP News-Nielsen opinion poll projected that the BJP and its current allies will win 120 seats, and the Shiv Sena 67 seats.
Poonam Mahajan, an MP from Mumbai West and cousin to the Mundes, said that the BJP will do well in the region because of anti-incumbency feelings and "sympathy after Gopinath Munde’s death”.
The only region where the BJP is not banking on a clear victory is in the coastal Konkan strip, which has just one BJP legislator. “But in Vidarbha and Western Maharashtra, we will do phenomenally well," claimed Mahajan.
On stage, local BJP leaders were going out of their way to dismiss the idea that the party expects sympathy votes in the Maharashtra assembly polls on October 15. “[Gopinath] Munde sahab is no longer with us, but don’t vote for Pankaja tai only out of pity,” said one youth leader. “Vote for her because of the work she has done for five years as our MLA.”
A few minutes later, while being cheered on as Maharashtra’s tigress, Pankaja Munde took the mic and undid all the appeals in the previous speeches.
“When I lit my father’s pyre, I promised myself I would not let the world forget his name,” she said, recounting the shock her family went through when they heard of Gopinath Munde’s sudden death in a car accident on June 3, days after he had been sworn in as a minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new cabinet.
“When I look into your eyes, I see myself reflected as my father," she told her rapt audience. "This election, close your eyes, think of Munde sahab and vote for us two sisters.”
All in the family
When the state goes to the polls this week, both Pankaja Munde and her sister Pritam Munde-Khade will face the voters. Pankaja Munde seeks to retain her seat as the legislator of the Parli assembly constituency. Pritam Munde – a doctor with no previous political experience – has been pushed to stand for her father's seat in the Lok Sabha bypoll from Beed district.
Since few major political parties are willing to field candidates against her (the Shiv Sena has stepped back out respect for its good relations with Munde), Pritam Munde-Khade’s only notable challenger is local Congress leader Ashokrao Patil.
Most observers rate her chances highly. “As an MLA for the past five years, Pankaja has learnt some skills from her father and can give good speeches, but Pritam does not have a political personality at all,” said Prakash Lakhera, a senior journalist at Parshvabhoomi, a Marathi newspaper in Beed district. “But because of people’s emotional attachment to Munde, she is likely to win the Lok Sabha seat.”
In the Parli assembly segment, Pankaja Munde's strongest rival is her cousin, Dhananjay Munde, who defected to the Nationalist Congress Party in 2013 after his uncle chose his daughter as his political heir.
Dhananjay Munde has a tough fight on his hands, even though much of Beed district has been voting for the Congress-NCP combine for several years. In fact, of the six Vidhan Sabha seats from Beed, five are occupied by NCP legislators. The Munde family fiefdom is restricted to Parli.
But in Parli taluka, because of Gopinath Munde's efforts to bring education, employment and recognition to the Vanjara caste, the late politician is revered.
“Munde sahab started two sugar factories that brought jobs to 15,000 people, including my brother,” said Trembag Dhakne, a sugarcane farmer, referring to the Vaidyanath and Pangeshwar sugar factories in Parli taluka. An excited group of villagers who had come to Parli city especially for Pankaja Munde’s youth rally begin listing the many benefits that Gopinath Munde had brought his followers, from school and college scholarships to free medical services.
“He worked for everyone, not just the Vanjaras,” said Jeevan Sadhvai, another farmer. “But the municipality of Parli city is in the hands of Dhananjay Munde’s NCP, and look at how bad the roads are.”
Most of Parli’s roads are, indeed, riddled with potholes, broken at the edges and in need of a sweep or two.
The climb to Dhananjay Munde's office
But at the other end of the city, outside Dhananjay Munde’s lavish office and residence on an unpaved hillock, his loyalists seemed oblivious to these problems.
“The NCP says it has spent Rs 40 crore to improve Parli’s roads, and the work done is first class,” said Machindra Karad, a Dhananjay Munde supporter from the taluka’s Mandwa village. Like Karad, many of Dhananjay’s followers used to be BJP supporters before he joined the NCP, and they still have great regard for Gopinath Munde.
“But Pankaja is not a leader like her father,” said Somnath Phad, a 25-year-old Parli resident who had been the taluka vice-president of the BJP Yuva Morcha for the past five years. “I moved to the NCP just two days ago because when I approached Pankaja tai with a problem, she could not even remember who I was. When I came to Dhananjay sir, he remembered me by name.”
Dhananjay Munde, on his part, is countering the sympathy for his cousins with the one buzzword that the BJP has been using for the national election. “People want development,” he said. “There is a need for jobs for skilled labour in my area, and I intend to launch a five-star MIDC zone over 1,000 acres in Parli.”
Beyond the Munde stronghold
Outside of Parli, in other parts of Beed, the respect for the different Mundes is more muted.
“I will vote for Pritam Munde for the Lok Sabha seat because of her father’s reputation, but he hasn’t really worked much for areas beyond Parli,” said Chandrakant Kulkarni, a photo studio owner in Ambejogai city whose relatives work on fields in neighbouring villages.
Farmers in Beed – a dry, drought-prone district – rely almost completely on rainwater for survival, and after facing a drought for two years, Kulkarni says people are desperate for jobs. “Unemployment is a huge problem in every family in the district, and farmers really need other options,” said Kulkarni, who is sceptical of both the BJP and the NCP and plans to place his bets on the Shiv Sena for the assembly polls.
State view
However, the BJP’s state-level leaders are not worrying too much about the dynamics of the various Beed assembly segments. Recent opinion polls have given the BJP a clear lead in the Maharashtra assembly polls, based on Modi’s continued stardom after the national election, and the party’s leadership reflects that confidence. A poll by India TV-C Voter poll suggested that the BJP would in 132-142 seats in the 288-seat assembly, followed by the Shiv Sena with between 50 and 60 seats. An ABP News-Nielsen opinion poll projected that the BJP and its current allies will win 120 seats, and the Shiv Sena 67 seats.
Poonam Mahajan, an MP from Mumbai West and cousin to the Mundes, said that the BJP will do well in the region because of anti-incumbency feelings and "sympathy after Gopinath Munde’s death”.
The only region where the BJP is not banking on a clear victory is in the coastal Konkan strip, which has just one BJP legislator. “But in Vidarbha and Western Maharashtra, we will do phenomenally well," claimed Mahajan.
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