An unusual display of camaraderie between the two estranged cousins – Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Pankaja Munde and social justice minister Dhananjany Munde from Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) – in the presence of NCP chief Sharad Pawar at a private event has become a talking point in political circles.
Raghunath Netralaya, the eye hospital and research institute founded by noted eye surgeon Dr T P Lahane, was inaugurated by Pawar at an auditorium in Prabhadevi on Thursday. Pankaja and her sister Pritam Munde, who is the MP from Beed, were among the guests invited for the event along with a slew of ministers from the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. However, no other BJP leader was present at the function except the Munde sisters, who are reportedly unhappy for being sidelined in the party.
In her address, Pankaja praised the NCP chief for his political acumen and her cousin Dhananjay for being fortunate to have got a chance to work with Pawar.
When Dhananjay affectionately tapped on her head while walking towards the podium, Pankaja returned the affection with a smile. The cousins had not been on talking terms since Dhananjay defeated Pankaja in the 2014 assembly elections.
Dhananjay, in his speech, indirectly invited her to join the MVA. “It would have been nice to see Pankaja joining the coalition. I’m not saying this. Aadityaji [Thackeray] mentioned this while we were chatting a while ago,” he said.
Environment minister Aaditya Thackeray from Shiv Sena, Congress leader and revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat, and his party colleague and medical education minister Amit Deshmukh were among those who attended the event.
In April, the Munde sisters visited Breach Candy Hospital to meet Dhananjay, who fainted at his official residence and was kept in the intensive care unit for a few days.
The sisters are believed to be disgruntled for having sidelined owing to the difference with the top leadership in the Maharashtra unit of BJP. They had put up a show of strength in Mumbai and Beed after Pritam Munde was denied a berth during the reshuffle in the Narendra Modi cabinet in July last year.
The party leadership chose Rajya Sabha MP Bhagwat Karad, who was mentored by late Gopinath Munde (Pankaja’s father and former deputy chief minister) in politics over Pritam. Since Karad is an Other Backward Class (OBC) leader, his selection was seen as an attempt to put up a parallel OBC leadership in central Maharashtra where the Mundes have influence.
