NCP leader Dhananjay Munde stepped down Tuesday as Maharashtra's Food and Civil Supplies Minister after his aide, Walmik Karad, was arrested in connection with the torture and murder of a village chief in Beed district last year. A "deeply saddened" Mr Munde said his 'inner voice' had led him to offer his resignation, which Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has accepted.
In a post on X, Mr Munde said it had always been his demand that those guilty for the torture and killing of Santosh Deshmukh get the "harshest punishment". He also claimed ill health - last month he said he had been diagnosed with Bell's Palsy - as a reason for his resignation.
Sources said Mr Munde resigned after a meeting with Mr Fadnavis.
Who Is Dhananjay Munde
Dhananjay Munde, 49, is the MLA from the Parli constituency in Beed district.
He is the nephew of late BJP veteran Gopinath Munde, a popular leader who served as Union Minister, Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, and was also a Lok Sabha MP.
Mr Munde's Parli seat was formed in 2009 and won by his cousin, the BJP's Pankaja Munde, in the first two state elections. In the 2019 and 2024 polls it was Mr Munde who took over; first for the undivided NCP led by Sharad Pawar and then for the NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar.
In the previous government, led by Shiv Sena boss Eknath Shinde, Dhanjay Munde served as the Agriculture Minister from July 2023 to November 2024, when the Assembly election was held.
During that time he was also the 'guardian minister' for Beed district, a position that has since been given to party colleague Manikrao Kokate.
Mr Munde was also a cabinet member when Uddhav Thackeray, boss of the then-undivided Shiv Sena, was Chief Minister; Mr Thackeray led an alliance of the Sena, the (then-also undivided) NCP, and the Congress. He was then Minister for Social Justice and Special Assistance.
Mr Munde has often faced controversial situations in a career spanning nearly two decades, including charges of rape in January 2021. These were made by a popular singer but later withdrawn. Mr Munde denied all allegations and stared down the opposition's calls to quit.
He was then a minister in Uddhav Thackeray's cabinet.
Political Career
Mr Munde began his career working with his uncle, Gopinath Munde, and helping manage the family's political interests in Beed. He also marked himself out as an excellent orator.
Indeed, many even saw him as the senior BJP leader's 'heir apparent'.
But that changed in 2009, after Gopinath Munde picked his daughter, Pankaja, to represent the family seat of Parli. Then with the BJP, the party offered him a position in the Legislative Council.
But the relationship never really recovered, and in 2012 he switched to the NCP, which was then led by Sharad Pawar. Mr Munde's father, Panditrao Munde, made the same jump months before.
Dhananjay Munde contested the 2014 election against his cousin but lost. He regrouped and returned five years later, flipping a defeat by 26,000 votes into a victory by more than 40,000.
In 2023 he sided with Ajit Pawar in his rebellion against his uncle and NCP founder Sharad Pawar. The younger Pawar was reportedly keen on signing Mr Munde on to diversify his NCP faction's identity as more than a Maratha-centric political outfit.
In return, Mr Munde has been seen as an Ajit Pawar loyalist.
The Sarpanch Murder Fallout
Walmik Karad, the prime accused in the torture and murder of the sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, is a confidante of Mr Munde, and it was that closeness that gave the opposition enough ammunition to press for the NCP leader's sacking.
READ | Crime, Clout, Caste: In-Between Sarpanch Murder And Minister's Exit
Sources said that after details of the police case were made public Mr Fadnavis met Ajit Pawar to discuss the potential fallout of that link and, eventually, Mr Munde was asked to quit.
READ | "Ready If...": Dhananjay Munde On Quit Calls Amid Murder Case
As controversy over the sarpanch's murder grew, in January Mr Munde said he would have no problem resigning if asked to, either by Mr Fadnavis or Mr Pawar. "If Chief Minister Fadnavis or Deputy Chief Minister Pawar believe I am guilty... they should ask for my resignation. I am ready to step down."
NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.
