Cabinet reshuffle: In Bhagwat Karad's induction, Sena smells ploy to finish Munde's career

Post the Union Cabinet reshuffle, Shiv Sena claimed that Bhagwat Karad's induction was aimed at finishing the political career of ex-Maharashtra Minister Pankaja Munde. Penning an editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamana on Friday, Executive Editor Sanjay Raut lamented that the BJP Rajya Sabha MP was preferred over Pankaja Munde's sister Pritam Munde, the sitting Lok Sabha MP from Beed. Initially, Pritam Munde's name was doing the rounds for a possible Ministerial berth in PM Modi's team. 

Both Karad and the Munde sisters hail from the Vanjari community- one of the largest groups among the OBCs. Elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2020, Karad has been appointed as the new Finance MoS. A day earlier, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis has rubbished rumours that Munde is unhappy over the Union Cabinet snub.

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut wrote, "Bhagwat Karad became an MoS. This is a ploy to finish off Pankaja Munde politically. While Karad grew up in the shadow of Gopinath Munde, he was made a Minister without thinking about Pritam Munde. There is enough suspicion that this is an attempt to divide the Wanjari community and teach a lesson to Pankaja Munde."

Pankaja Munde's role in BJP post-2019 Assembly polls

The Women and Child Welfare Minister in the erstwhile BJP-Shiv Sena government, Pankaja Munde was pitted against her estranged cousin and NCP leader Dhananjay Munde from the Parli constituency in the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections. Considered as a potential rival to Fadnavis, she lost by a margin of approximately 30,000 votes. A few months later, she removed her association with BJP from her Twitter bio leading to speculations about her exit from the party.

During her rally in Beed to commemorate the birth anniversary of her father Gopinath Munde on December 12, 2019, she ruled out leaving BJP. However, the perception of her rift from the party leadership strengthened after BJP's 'Lotus' symbol and images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi were absent from the posters for her Beed event. At present, she is the BJP national secretary while her sister Pritam serves as the vice president of the Maharashtra BJP unit. However, Pankaja Munde has been repeatedly ignored for both the Rajya Sabha as well as the Legislative Council berth.