Rahul Shrivastava
Tuesday, April 22, 2008 (New Delhi)
The crisis in the Maharashtra unit of the BJP has ended for the time being.

On Tuesday, Gopinath Munde, who had resigned from party posts, withdrew both his resignation and rebellion after keeping up the pressure for two days.

The BJP forgot his rebellion and declared him its leader in Maharshtra and replaced the party's Mumbai chief.

''I will always be with the BJP,'' said Munde, General Secretary, BJP.

Madhu Chavan, the party's Mumbai chief, was sacked. Nitin Gadkari, Munde's challenger, had to retract and accept Munde as the face of the state BJP.

''Munde is our leader,'' said Nitin Gadkari, leader, BJP.

The BJP, desperately needing the truce, ignored Munde's taunts of lack of democracy. It was his tactical move to meet rival leaders.

For the cameras, Munde drove around with Gadkari in the same car. Close to the general elections, the BJP will hope the compromise lasts.

Munde was late Pramod Mahajan's political right arm in Maharashtra. After Mahajan's death, Munde lost ground. It's sheer coincidence that Munde has made a comeback on the day Mahajn was shot at in 2006.
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Mumbai/New Delhi April 22, 2008 (BS Reporters): The crisis in the Maharashtra BJP deepened a day after national general secretary Gopinath Munde resigned from all posts in the party. Munde today refused the party high command’s summons to Delhi to attend a meeting called to discuss the issue.

Munde made it very clear that he would not be going to Delhi and instead dispatched two emissaries state Assembly and council chiefs Eknath Khadse and Pandurang Phundkar.

While the immediate provocation for the resignation was the appointment of council member Madhu Chavan, considered close to state unit chief and Munde’s rival in the party Nitin Gadkari, as Mumbai unit chief, Munde himself said that his grievances went much deeper.

"My anger is against the manner in which the party is functioning and not against the appointment of Madhu Chavan," he said.

Speaking about his decision of not going to Delhi, Munde said, "I am a party to the dispute. How can I participate in the consultation process in which decision is going to be taken on the issues which I have raised, like lack of internal democracy in the party?"

"However, if the issue is not resolved by April 26, I will be starting my Samvad Yatra from Pune, where I began my political career, and talk to the party’s workers and the public about the issues I have raised," he added.

Munde today also got support from 16 BJP corporators of the Pune civic body who sent in their resignations to BJP president Rajnath Singh to express their solidarity with the party general secretary, who is the brother-in-law of late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan.

By evening, at a BJP legislative party meeting, attempts were made to woo Munde, with the state BJP’s 64 MLAs and MLCs "unanimously" passing a resolution putting their faith in his leadership.

Even his detractors Gadkari and Vinod Tawade were present at the meeting. "Munde has not quit the party and this is a move to woo him back," said a senior party leader in Delhi.

In Delhi, the party went into a huddle on how best to control the crisis.

"He (Munde) will come here tonight or tomorrow morning and we will talk to him," BJP president Rajnath Singh told reporters after the two-and-a-half hour meeting of the party’s core group in which senior leaders L K Advani, Jaswant Singh, Yashwant Sinha, Arun Jaitly, Sushma Swaraj and Bal Apte were present.

Singh also called up the defiant thrice during the day to convince him to withdraw his resignation.

"I am confident that some solution will be found through talks," the BJP chief said. He insisted there was "no compromise formula".

Earlier, Singh had a meeting with BJP Maharashtra unit chief Nitin Gadkari. Senior Maharashtra unit leader Ram Naik was also present.

"This is a race to control the Maharashtra BJP. There are two things: Munde cannot expect to succeed into Pramod Mahajan’s extraordinary position in the party and Gadkari should also acknowledge that Munde is one of the few mass-based leaders there," said a senior leader in the party.

Munde tonight met Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray at his residence in Mumbai and requested him to mediate in the matter, sources said.

Earlier in the day, Munde also met NCP leader and Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal, fuelling speculation about a possible coming together of the two OBC leaders on a common political platform in the state. (With thanks from "business-standard.com")

Mumbai, April 21, 2008 (NI Wire): Before the Karnataka BJP-JDU conflict over seat sharing for the approaching assembly elections die down and the troubles in the party Bihar unit caused after reshuffle in the ministry by the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar letting down, another controversy in a row arose this time in Maharashtra has morally sent the Bhartiya Janata Party at the back seat.

The recent controversy arose in Maharashtra after the BJP’s general secretary (GS) Gopinath Munde tendered his resignation on April 20 from all party’s organisational posts along with the GS to show his annoyance for being sidelined in the decision making process by Nitin Gadkari, the state party chief. His reportedly refusal to participate in the meeting with party’s central leadership further deepened the situation.

The bone of contention was hiding in the post of party president upon which Gadkari’s close confidants Madhu Chavan was appointed instead of allegedly Mumbadevi MLA Raj Purohit, in closeness to Munde.

Irked over the move, the general secretary sent his resignation to the party high command in the capital, which was reportedly rejected by the latter followed by the appeasement policy by the party leaders namely party national president Rajnath Singh, vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Arun Jaitley who talked on phone to Munde to sort out the problem and summoned him and Gadkari to come to Delhi to quash differences between the duo.

However Munde refused the base of his resignation as appointment of Gadkari’s confidant. “I resigned from all party posts because the party is not functioning democratically. I will talk about it after the budget session of the state legislature,” infuriated Munde often called the ‘face of the party’ in Maharashtra, who especially after the assassination of Pramod Mahajan, went up as the superior leader of the party in the state.

The matter got worse once again when sixteen Corporators from Pune sent their unanimous resignation to the party president Rajnath Singh to convey their solidarity with general secretary Munde.

The vice president of BJP’s Pune unit Sandeep Khardekar said the process of sidelining Gopinath Munde in the state affairs was completely irritating and said the decision was neither happily received by the party workers nor would be endured at any cost.

Rajnath Singh while saying that there was no question of accepting his resignation expressed his hope that issue would soon be sorted out once they arrive here.

The Opposition Leader in Lok Sabha and the party’s prime ministerial candidate L K Advani also talked Munde over phone and hoped the differences would be sort out soon.

The problem has been precipitated after Gopinath Munde, the brother-in-law of late Pramod Mahajan denied to visit the Party High Command in Delhi on April 22.

The Bhartiya Janata Party as per the source have decided to hold an emergency meeting with L K Advani and Jaswant Singh to discuss the matter. The sources say that they will persuade Munde to renounce his resignation and take the party’s responsibility in the state again.

The differences between Munde and Gadkari would be detrimental to the party’s political ambition in Maharashtra especially when the assembly elections in some states are approaching and the general elections due to be held next year.

Such disputes in one state might affect the morality and confidence of party workers’ in the other states. Munde has been the number one leader of the party still full of beans at this stage in Maharashtra and the icon of Other Backward Caste (OBC) people. His shift of loyalty would mean number of voters’ detachment from the party. (With thanks from newstrackindia.com)

Rahul Shrivastav , Prerana Thakurdesai
Monday, April 21, 2008 (New Delhi , Mumbai): The BJP may sound confident but their crisis in Maharashtra has become worse.

On Monday, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Gopinath Munde refused to travel to Delhi to take part in talks with the party's top leadership to reconsider his resignation.

Instead Munde, who had resigned as the party's General Secretary, went a step further and said he will resign from the Maharashtra assembly.

''I will work as a common worker of the party. There is a lack of democracy in the party. Therefore, I tender my resignation,'' said Gopinath Munde.

Meanwhile, Munde's 4,000 supporters also quit their party posts to make matters worse.

Munde has added fuel to the fire by meeting some Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders, describing it predictably as a courtesy call.

Munde, upset over the appointment of key functionaries in Mumbai unit, had resigned from all organisational posts on Sunday, bringing to the fore simmering differences between him and Nitin Gadkari, who is the state party chief.

But Gadkari, who did make it to the Delhi meeting, says Munde's rebellion is not to be taken seriously.

''These are all pressure tactics,'' said Nitin Gadkari.

But Munde's rebellion has to be checked before it spirals as party functionaries resigned across Maharahstra from Pune, Aurangabad, Latur, Beed and Sangli.

Since 1999, Munde is the third influential OBC BJP leader on the warpath. But unlike Kalyan Singh and Uma Bharati, Munde is playing for bigger stakes. His aim is to gain control of Maharashtra BJP. (With thanks from ndtv.com)

Mumbai, April 21, 2008 (PTI): Senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde, who has quit all party posts, has made up his mind to resign as a member of Maharashtra assembly if the problem relating to appointment of state party functionaries was not resolved, sources close to him said on Monday.

Munde is waiting for the outcome of Monday night's meeting in Delhi between top BJP leaders and state BJP leaders Pandurang Phundkar and Eknath Khadse, sources said.

Munde was all set to quit as an MLA on Sunday itself but was persuaded by several party collegaues against taking the step, they added.

The 59-year-old leader quit as BJP General Secretary and from all other posts on Sunday after being sidelined over appointment of new Mumbai BJP President Madhu Chavan.

Munde will resign from the House this week itself if his grievances over lack of democracy in the party leadership's decision-making process at state and central levels were not resolved, the sources said.

Munde is all set to begin a statewide tour after April 25 when the budget session of Maharashtra legislature concludes.

Meanwhile, at a meeting of BJP legislators held here, an overwhelming number of MLAs came out in support of Munde, the sources said, claiming as many as 50 of the 54 legislators were supporting Munde in the present crisis. (With Thanks from Times of India)

Mumbai, April 21, 2008 (PTI): In a clear disregard of summons from the BJP central leadership, Gopinath Munde, who has resigned from all party posts, on Monday said he will not be visiting Delhi and that he will instead be represented by two senior state BJP leaders.

In an apparent damage control exercise, the BJP leadership called Munde as also his detractor Nitin Gadkari to Delhi to sort out the differences in the state unit.

When asked if he is going to New Delhi to meet the party central leadership, Munde said he had conveyed his sentiments to party leaders in the state assembly, Eknath Khadse, and in the council, Pandurang Phundkar.

"I have full faith in their leadership and they will go on my behalf," he said, adding that he planned to attend the ongoing session in the Maharashtra legislative assembly.

Munde, who tendered his resignation on Sunday, also said he was in touch with senior party leaders including party president Rajnath Singh.

Denying that he was being isolated in the party, Munde said his grievances were about the party's style of functioning and not over the appointment of any particular person as the head of BJP's Mumbai unit.

"You are wrong if you interpret that I am being isolated. I have lakhs of followers and party workers are behind me," Munde said.

"My anger is against the manner in which the party was functioning and not against the appointment of Madhu Chavan (as BJP's Mumbai chapter chief)," he said.

He denied that he was trying to build pressure on the party by tendering his resignation.

"I have taken this decision after much thought," he said. When contacted, Gadkari said he was scheduled to meet with party leaders in Delhi on Monday evening. (With thanks from Times of India)

Pune, April 21, 2008 (PTI): Sixteen BJP corporators of Pune civic body have sent their resignations to party president Rajnath Singh to express solidarity with party general secretary Gopinath Munde, who resigned from all organisational posts.

The corporators, who met late Sunday night to discuss Munde's resignation, said their loyalties would remain with the BJP leader and they would follow the "path" shown by him in future.

Upset over appointment of key functionaries of BJP's Mumbai unit by the party's central leadership, Munde on Sunday resigned from all organisational posts, resenting lack of democracy in the party.

Sandeep Khardekar, Vice President of Pune BJP said the Maharashtra BJP president Nitin Gadkari did not enjoy the support or trust of party workers and efforts to "sideline" Munde in the state's affairs would not be tolerated.

He said Munde supporters from Pune would go to Mumbai on Tuesday to rally behind their leader, who was expected to arrive there from Aurangabad.

Party insiders say that for the past several months a bitter battle has been raging between Munde and the state unit president Nitin Gadkari.

Ever since the gunning down of Pramod Mahajan, senior BJP leader and brother-in-law of Munde, the latter has found himself increasingly marginalized. Mahajan loyalists like Munde were allegedly finding themselves systematically sidelined by Gadkari with the tacit support of the party’s central leadership.

Indications are that Munde, who is known to have a soft corner for NCP president Sharad Pawar of late, may quit the party if pushed into a corner. If that happens, it will be a major setback for BJP at a time when it is preparing for next year's general elections. (With thanks from Times of India)

Gopinath Munde meets NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal
Mumbai, Apr 21, 2008: BJP leader Gopinath Munde, who has quit all party posts, today met Maharashtra Minister Chhagan Bhujbal of NCP, fuelling speculation about a possible coming together of the two OBC leaders on a common political platform in the state.

Munde, upset over BJP central leadership's sidelining him on appointment of key functionaries of the party's state unit, met Bhujbal in the minister's chamber in South Mumbai.

Bhujbal has been feeling sidelined in Sharad Pawar-led NCP in the past few years and the possibility of an alliance between the two was being talked about since the time Munde was chief guest at his 60th birthday celebrations here late last year.

Bhujbal had commented during the function that "political quakes come unannounced". His mentor and NCP President Sharad Pawar had then remarked he was a "master is tackling quakes".

Sources close to Bhujbal, said the meeting was "informal" and the issue of Munde's resignation was not discussed at all.

They said Munde, also an MLA, was walking in the Vidhan Bhavan lobby and dropped in at Bhujbal's office. He wanted to know if Bhujbal was inside.

Since, Bhujbal was in his chamber, Munde went inside. Madhukar Pichad, a prominent tribal leader of NCP, was also present. Tourism Minister Vijaysinh Mohite Patil (also of NCP) came in later, the sources said.

They sought to down play the meeting between Munde and Bhujbal saying nothing political should be read in the event.

Interestingly, all the three NCP leaders are sulking for being sidelined in the party hierarchy.

Munde has denied he was considering leaving BJP and forming a political platform to unite OBC sections. (With Thanks from Sahara Samay)

Miffed Gopinath Munde quits BJP posts

Aurangabad/Mumbai, April 21, 2008 (PTI): Senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde dropped a bombshell on Sunday by resigning from all party posts in protest against the "undemocratic functioning of the party" in Maharashtra.

The former deputy CM’s decision shocked BJP workers since he was a known public face of the party and was being projected as a chief ministerial candidate.

Without naming any party leader, Munde said, "Some people have turned the party into a kitchen cabinet and are treating it like their personal fiefdom. Democratic ways have become extinct. I have already communicated my decision to the party’s national president, Rajnath Singh."

The immediate provocation for Munde’s action was the appointment of Madhu Chavan, MLC, as president of the Mumbai unit of the party in place of Prakash Mehta, who has completed his three-year term. Apparently, Munde, an all-India general secretary, wanted Kirit Somaiya, a former MP, or Raj Purohit, an MLA, as the city president.

Party insiders say that for the past several months a bitter battle has been raging between Munde and the state unit president, Nitin Gadkari.

Ever since the gunning down of Pramod Mahajan, senior BJP leader and brother-in-law of Munde, the latter has found himself increasingly marginalized. Mahajan loyalists like Munde were allegedly finding themselves systematically sidelined by Gadkari with the tacit support of the party’s central leadership.

In fact, Munde, who was heading BJP’s state legislature wing, was given an all-India position so that he would be out of Gadkari’s way. But Munde managed to retain his ties with Maharashtra.

Six months ago, a three-member committee comprising Ram Naik, Bal Apte and Vedprakash Goel met Mumbai BJP activists to find a successor to Prakash Mehta. Apparently, most of them favoured Madhu Chavan. More recently, all-India secretary P Sateesh too undertook a similar exercise and backed
Chavan.

On Saturday, Rajnath Singh called Gadkari and asked him to announce Chavan’s appointment. After this, all hell broke loose with Munde stepping down from all posts.

He alleged that there was no intra-party democracy in the organization, either in Maharashtra or Delhi. He said this was the view of a majority of party workers. He said even though the president was to be elected, Chavan was nominated — a practice generally associated with Congress.

"I will go to every nook and corner of the state to meet party workers and find out their views. They too are not very happy with the overall functioning of the party in the state," he said.

Indications are that Munde, who is known to have a soft corner for NCP president Sharad Pawar of late, may quit the party if pushed into a corner. If that happens, it will be a major setback for BJP at a time when it is preparing for next year’s general elections.

Munde, who is a prominent OBC leader, has a mass base unlike Gadkari, a Brahmin.
Incidentally, a few months ago, Munde had shared a platform with noted OBC leader Chhagan Bhujbal of NCP.

The OBCs form a substantial chunk of the electorate in Maharashtra and BJP cannot afford to alienate them by neglecting Munde.

BJP’s state general secretary, Vinod Tawde, may emerge as the winner of the ongoing tussle between Munde and Gadkari. He enjoys the support of RSS and is known for his organizational skills.

As a fallout of Munde’s resignation from the party, which he had joined 25 years ago, a number of party office-bearers too have resigned from their posts in the Marathwada region. (With Thanks from "The Times of India")