Maharashtra minister Pankaja Munde offered to resign from her post on Thursday after the Bharatiya Janata Party failed to make any inroads into her constituency in Beed district in the local body election. However, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis did not accept her resignation, reported NDTV.
The BJP had lost eight out of the 10 zilla parishad seats in Munde’s home turf Parli. “I take responsibility for the defeat,” the state women and child development minister told ANI. This is in sharp contrast with the party’s overall performance in the state. The BJP bagged 403 zilla parishad seats, the highest among all other parties. Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party finished second with 350 zilla parishad seats.
The party’s state president Raosaheb Danve also downplayed the issue and stood by the minister, who took the defeat personally. “I had a word with Pankaja Munde. Victory never went into our head and we never got depressed with defeat... I personally do not find a valid reason behind her decision to put in papers. I feel people’s issues will not be solved by her resignation,” he told PTI.
Danve dismissed rumours that Munde’s resignation was triggered by infighting within the BJP. “Her resignation has nothing to do with BJP and her disappointment with BJP,” he told the news agency.
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