Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com recalls his encounters with the late Gopinath Munde many years ago, when he was Maharashtra's home minister.
Munde, who returned to Mumbai after meeting top BJP leaders including Lal Kishenchand Advani and Rajnath Singh in Delhi, had a meeting with Thackeray at his residence during which the Shiv Sena leader wished him all success, Sena sources said on Friday. This is Munde's second visit to Thackeray's residence within a span of three days. Just before going to Delhi to meet the party bosses on Tuesday after raising a banner of revolt, Munde had met Thackeray.
A crucial meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party members of Parliament, members of Legislative Assembly, members of Legislative Council and office-bearers, convened by Maharashtra unit chief Sudhir Mungantiwar in the backdrop of sulking leader Gopinath Munde's "rebellion," got underway in Mumbai on Tuesday. Munde himself has so far not made an appearance at the meeting.
He also sought framing of a law to identify Kunbis as Marathas, and warned of fielding candidates from all 288 assembly seats in Maharashtra in the upcoming state polls if his demands were not approved.
Soon after news of her being relieved from the water conservation portfolio became public, Munde said she was to reach Singapore to attend a global water leader summit on Monday but won't do so as she was no longer the minister of that department.
In a telephonic interview with rediff.com, Dhananjay Munde squarely blames his uncle for sidelining him in the state BJP for the benefit of Munde's daughter Pankaja Munde-Palwe, who is currently a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council from Parli, the BJP leader's home town.
Describing the unrest among party members as just the "tip of the iceberg," the report shed light on the underlying discontent within the BJP.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday expressed hope that the crisis caused by Gopinath Munde airing his grievances against the party would blow over after Saturday's talks between him and the central leadership.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Gopinath Munde ended his hunger strike on Tuesday afternoon in Aurangabad after Maharashtra Forest Minister Patangrao Kadam's assurance that his demands would be discussed and fulfilled.
Six months after the death of Union Minister Gopinath Munde in a road accident, the Central Bureau of Investigation on Thursday filed a charge sheet against taxi driver Gurvinder Singh for rash and negligent driving while ruling out any foul play.
The party has to zero in on its chief ministerial candidate from one of three leaders -- Union Minister for Surface Transport Nitin Gadkari, state BJP president Devendra Fadnavis and Leader of Opposition in the state council Vinod Tawde. But the biggest handicap with them is that they can't match Munde in terms of popularity.
Pankaja Munde, who is the MLA from Parli, led the campaign for Gopinath Munde during the Lok Sabha elections against the single-minded, 'undo the Mundes' campaign by the Pawars and the Nationalist Congress Party. She is not set to take over his mantle, says Mahesh Vijapurkar.
The Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party-led opposition alliance in Maharashtra will win 35 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats, senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde claimed here today.
The Bharatiya Janata Party fielded senior leader Gopinath Munde's daughter Pankaja Palave from Parli even as some partymen protested giving ticket to late Pramod Mahajan's daughter Poonam in the Maharashtra assembly elections.
Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentary party chairman LK Advani has appointed senior Maharashtra leader Gopinath Munde as the deputy leader in the Lok Sabha.
The mortal remains of Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Union Rural Development Minister Gopinath Munde, who died in a road accident in Delhi, were flown to Mumbai on Tuesday evening.
To keep their MLAs together, political parties are organising dinner meetings and arranging hotel stays for them ahead of the council elections, which are taking place just three months ahead of the assembly polls in the state.
The Bharatiya Janata Party replaced at least 25 sitting MPs with new faces as the party released its second list of 72 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls on Wednesday.
Munde took the selfies with the dried-up Manjara river as the backdrop, while on a visit to the parched region to review desilting work on the riverbed.
In more trouble for senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Gopinath Munde, facing an Election Commission's show cause notice for his poll spending remark, the Income Tax department has issued a notice seeking his explanation within a week.
BJP deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gopinath Munde has been appointed Chairman of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC), a post vacated by expelled BJP leader Jaswant Singh.
Maharashtra Women and Child Development Minister Pankaja Munde finds herself in the middle of a Rs 206 crore scam, in what maybe called the first case of impropriety of the Devendra Fadnavis-led government.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Gopinath Munde's exit from the party won't have any impact on the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance in Maharashtra, Sena chief Bal Thackeray said in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar on Saturday said that his party had not made any offer to the disgruntled Bharatiya Janata Party leader Gopinath Munde.
Munde, the Women and Child Development minister, has been accused of irregularities in procurement of items worth Rs 206 crore including chikki.
In an unexpected development, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray announced his party's public support on Tuesday to Bharatiya Janata Party leader Gopinath Munde who is attempting to retain his Beed Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra.
Munde's defiant attitude not to visit Delhi on Tuesday had given rise to the speculation that he may join hands with the Shiv Sena as he had met Bal Thackeray before leaving for Delhi. He also met another powerful leader Chhagan Bhujbal. "I am confident that we should be able to sort out the issue by the end of the day," Venkaiah Naidu told newsmen before leaving for Advani's residence.
According to Munde, Pramod received the message a few days after Pravin had gone to his residence, demanded Rs one crore and said that he would face the consequences for not paying him the amount.
After Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj endorsed Narendra Modi as party's prime ministerial candidate, senior party leader Gopinath Munde backed her saying the Gujarat chief minister is indeed a candidate for the post.
'There are legions of unemployed degree holders across rural and semi-urban belts in Maharashtra. Now, they aren't finding brides.' 'This issue has now snowballed into a social crisis. In 2014 and 2019, they had voted for the BJP.'
Panditanna Munde, elder brother of senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Gopinath Munde, on Thursday joined the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party in the presence of his son (Gopinath's nephew) Dhananjay, and vowed to defeat his brother in the election.
'The BJP alliance needs to handle the Maratha quota issue skilfully and address its root cause, which is agrarian distress. Then there is stalled industrialisation. If these issues are addressed, caste fault lines would wither away. But, this is next to impossible in a short span of three-four months.'
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Gopinath Munde on Tuesday filed an appeal against the rejection of his candidature for the post of president in the Mumbai Cricket Association elections on October 18.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani was not amused with some of the party MPs joining RJD supremo Lalu Prasad and SP chief Mulayam Singh to hold a mock Parliament session and reprimanded his colleague Gopinath Munde for participating in it.
Union Minister Gopinath Munde died due to "shock and haemorrhage" following injuries to his neck and liver, as per the preliminary autopsy report submitted to Delhi Police by AIIMS doctors.
For the consumer, there would be practically no impact on prices of essential medicines this year.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has convened a meeting of the party's core committee to discuss the resignation of senior Maharashtra leader Gopinath Munde. Senior leaders including L K Advani, Jaswant Singh, Yashwant Sinha, Sushma Swaraj, Venkaiah Naidu and Arun Jaitley are expected to participate in the meeting.The BJP leadership had called Munde and Maharashtra BJP chief Nitin Gadkari to Delhi. Gadkari had arrived in New Delhi and Munde was expected to arrive late on Monday.
Putting up a fabulous performance, the stars had the spectators all geared up for the match.
Pritam Munde, the second daughter of late Bharatiya Janata Party leader Gopinath Munde, scripted Lok Sabha history winning the Beed seat in Maharashtra in a by-poll by a record margin of nearly seven lakh votes.
A Delhi court on Tuesday granted bail to Gurvinder Singh who was arrested in connection with the accident which led to the death of Union Rural Development Minister Gopinath Munde.
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