Nothing like Team Narendra, Team Devendra in the BJP: Pankaja Munde

Pankaja Munde with sister Pritam. File pic/Ashish Raje

The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) former minister, Pankaja Munde, said it does not approve any concept such as ‘Team Narendra or Team Devendra,' because the party puts the country and itself above individuals. She was reacting to rumours that the Munde family was upset because her sister, MP Dr Pritam, wasn't picked up in the Cabinet expansion.

"We accept every decision of the party," she said in Mumbai on Friday. "The BJP has a certain method of decision making. Like many others Dr Pritam's name was also in circulation. But let me tell you we haven't lobbied for a minister's post. The party must have included new faces because of their usefulness," she said while wishing the Prime Minister's new team the best.

Also Read: Cabinet Reshuffle: Devendra Fadnavis rubbishes talk about Munde sisters being unhappy

When asked about the Sena's mouthpiece, Saamna's editorial, which said that the BJP was deliberate in weakening her politically, she said, "I don't think people like the PM and others would do that."

The talks of the Munde family's resentment started after Dr Bhagwat Karad, who took up politics under the late Gopinath Munde's leadership, was made a minister of state in the union government. Supporters expected Pritam to get preference over a first-time Rajya Sabha MP, but the party thought otherwise, making some people protest in the streets against the decision. Pankaja chose to clear the air.

"Even I was asked to fill the election form for the council elections but I was told some other person will get the ticket, and I withdrew my nomination. My name came up again when the party picked candidates for the Rajya Sabha polls. I think it is the party that decides. We must put an end to the talks that we are upset about it," she said.

After serving five years as senior minister in the Devendra Fadnavis cabinet, Pankaja's political career took a deep dive in the 2019 Assembly polls when she lost to her estranged cousin Dhananjay Munde (NCP).

The defeat received mixed reactions. Her supporters alleged that the detractors engineered Pankaja's defeat because she was a potential CM candidate, while some blamed the loss on her poor public connect.

During her ministerial tenure, she put her mass leader father's legacy to hone the high ambitions, and at times strained relations with the seniors in the cabinet and party set-up.