BJP leader Pankaja Munde today said she was not upset with the party leadership's decision of not including her younger sister and two-time MP Pritam Munde into the Union council of ministers, but admitted that there was "negativity" among her supporters due to it.
Talking to reporters, she also said she wasn't so big a leader that the party will try to finish her politically as was alleged by the Shiv Sena in its mouthpiece 'Saamana'.
"I was born in Vanjara community and that doesn't mean I should be referred to as a Vanjara or OBC leader. I belong to the state. I am a woman leader and I represent the entire state. It would be wrong to portray me as a Vanjara leader," she said. There is no question of being upset, she added.
"Pritam Munde was being considered (for a berth in the Union cabinet). Like her, even Heena Gavit was being considered. Pritam is a hardworking and loyal party worker. She won from Beed with a record margin. Not because she is Gopinath Munde's daughter, but because she was a deserving candidate. The party is the ultimate truth. There is no question of me being upset," she said.
She said she inherited party loyalty from her father.
'Saamana' today alleged that the move of inducting Bhagwat Karad, who it said grew in the shadow of Gopinath Munde, into the Union council of ministers was aimed at finishing off the political career of Pankaja Munde.
She said, "The party leadership may have felt those included in the cabinet will be of more use... If someone else is getting a chance, I am happy for them. A leader's true victory is when the supporters grow," she said.
The former state minister also said that her father was not just an OBC leader as he represented all the deprived sections of the society in the state.
"If there is an attempt to reduce anybody's clout, the clout in fact grows stronger. I admit my supporters are upset and there is some negativity. My sister or I never sought ministerial positions," a teary-eyed Pankaja said.
Asked about it, she said she remembered her father, who died in New Delhi in June 2014, days after he took oath as a Union minister.
On Thursday, when asked about reports that Pankaja Munde was upset with the party leadership after her sister was not inducted into the cabinet, senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis had shot back, "Who told you they are angry? Don't spread rumours and malign them."
Pankaja Munde was a minister during the Devendra Fadnavis-led state government, but she lost the 2019 Assembly polls from her home turf Parali.
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