Former Maharashtra minister and Bharatiya Janata Party national secretary Pankaja Munde said on Saturday (June 3) that she plans to meet with Union Home Minister Amit Shah soon because she believes he can be her "leader." Pankaja Munde, whose late father Gopinath Munde was a senior BJP leader and Union minister, was speaking to a crowd in Beed district's Parli tehsil.
In a tweet (in Marathi), Pankaja wrote: "On the occasion of the ninth commemoration program of people's leader Gopinathraoji Munde Saheb, H.B.P. Enjoyed Dhok Maharaj's melodious kirtana followed by interaction with the audience."
While addressing the gathering, Pankaja said: "I have sought time from Amit Shah. As my father is no more, I have found in him a leader worth following. I will meet him and pour my heart out," news agency PTI reported the ex-minister as saying.
Pankaja was the minister of rural development, women, and child welfare in the BJP-Shiv Sena government led by Devendra Fadnavis from 2014 to 2019.
However, after losing in the 2019 assembly elections to her estranged cousin and Nationalist Congress Party leader Dhananjay Munde, she was rarely seen on the party's stage. Some of her remarks seemed to imply that she was dissatisfied with her party.
"I have many supporters, even from other political parties." But I'm not going to cry every once in a while. "I didn't cry even when my father died," she added further.
Gopinath Munde, a former BJP Lok Sabha deputy leader, was appointed as rural development minister by Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he took office in 2014. On June 3, that year, he was killed in a car accident.
"If I have to make a decision about my future, I will contact my supporters and declare it openly. I will not submit to anyone or give up. I'll ask my supporters not to be discouraged, and I will not change my position," she said.
Meanwhile, former Maharashtra Congress president and legislative party leader Balasaheb Thorat has stated that Pankaja could join his party. "The doors of the Congress are open to Pankaja Tai. Others are also eager to welcome her," he added.
Thorat stated that she cannot deny a sense of injustice being done to her. "She is the daughter of late Gopinath Munde, who had excellent relations with everyone across party lines," he added. "Her father helped the BJP grow in Maharashtra. It's unfortunate that she's being sidelined," Thorat said.