Pankaja Munde not quitting BJP: Maha party chief

Mumbai: The suspense over Pankaja Munde’s next move has increased after the BJP leader removed the party name from her Twitter bio Monday. On Monday, Ms Munde removed all details from her Twitter bio, including the word “BJP” and the description of her political journey.

Incidentally, in her recent tweets, she also congratulated new chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut further raised speculation by claiming that many leaders are keen on joining the Uddhav Thackeray-led party.

In the event Ms Munde quits the BJP, it will be a big jolt for the party which is still to get over the shock of losing power in Maharashtra. Ms Munde, the daughter of BJP heavyweight, late Gopinath Munde, has considerable clout among the OBC community.

However, state BJP chief Chandrakant Patil denied that Ms Munde is leaving the party. “BJP leaders are in touch with Ms Munde. She is introspecting after her defeat. She may be having good family relations with the Thackerays but it does not mean she is joining the Sena,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ms Munde Sunday put up a Facebook post calling for a meeting of her supporters on December 12 which is also the birth anniversary of her father, late Gopinath Munde.

She said that after her defeat, she got several calls and messages from her supporters asking for a meeting but due to the political situation, she could not speak to them.

“You are asking me for time to meet me. I am going to give you time after eight to ten days. During this time, I want to communicate with myself a little bit. What to do next? Which way to go? What can we give to our people? What is our power? What do people expect? After thinking about all these things, I will appear before you on December 12,” she said in her post.