Controversial Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde resigned from the cabinet on Tuesday citing health grounds, which was promptly accepted by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Munde, a leader of the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party, was under mounting pressure to quit following the arrest of his election manager in the murder of a popular village head who was tortured to death in Beed in December. Munde, 49, is a two-term MLA from Parli assembly constituency and his resignation is a blow to Pawar with whom he shares close ties. He began his political career under the patronage of his uncle, the late BJP leader Gopinath Munde, but charted his independent course after the senior Munde picked daughter Pankaja over him .
Last December, in the backdrop of the long-simmering tensions between the Maratha and the OBC (other backward class) communities in Marathwada, Santosh Deshmukh, the popular Maratha village head of Massajog in Beed district was tortured and murdered. He was trying to stop an extortion attempt directed at one of the green energy companies that dot this part of Marathwada, according to investigators. Munde’s close aide and election manager Walmik Karad was directly implicated in the murder by the police after a relentless campaign for justice mounted by the villagers. Karad’s arrest put Munde on the spot: the opposition clamoured for his resignation, and activist Anjali Damania made damning revelations about his business ties with Karad. BJP lawmaker from Ashtipatoda constituency, Suresh Dhas too launched a high-decibel campaign against Munde and Karad’s “reign of terror” in Beed while his cousin and BJP leader Pankaja Munde too claimed that “morality was murdered in Beed” in an interview to a Marathi newspaper.
A series of 15 videos and eight photographs leaked on social media on Monday revealed the extent of the brutality involved in Santosh Deshmukh’s murder. People in the chief minister’s office said that when Fadnavis saw the videos and the photographs, he summoned a meeting at his residence with NCP leaders Ajit Pawar, Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare and Munde himself.They added that Fadnavis stressed that Munde would have to step down as the leaked photos and video had created great anguish and unrest.
The publication on social media of the explicit videos and photographs sparked widespread outrage in the state. The videos showed Deshmukh being kicked, punched and beaten with pipes and rods. At one point he was forced to sit up and chant, ‘Sudarshan Ghule [one of the accused] is the father of all.’ In yet another video an accused can be seen urinating on Deshmukh as he lay bleeding to his death. These videos and photos are also part of the charge sheet, as earlier reported by HT.
In a post on X on Tuesday, Dhananjay Munde, demanded the strictest punishment for the accused. He cited visuals of Deshmukh’s torture and said he was deeply saddened. “The investigation into this matter has been completed and the charge sheet filed. Also, a judicial inquiry is proposed,” he wrote.
What next?
When Ajit Pawar split the Nationalist Congress Party in July 2023, Dhananjay Munde, who had served as a minister in the MVA government, emerged as a key ally for Ajit PAwar. He was tasked with getting other NCP lawmakers to split ranks with Sharad Pawar. For long he has been regarded as one of the state’s more important OBC leaders along with Chhagan Bhujbal. His resignation will, no doubt, pave the wave for Chhgan Bhujbal’s return to the spotlight. Bhujbal has been in deep sulk after he was not inducted in Fadnavis’s cabinet.
To be sure, the entire episode has dented the NCP’s image and the party has been left scrambling to save face. “Dhananjay Munde’s decision to resign is based on moral grounds. It is our expectation that (the killing of) Santosh Deshmukh should be investigated without any pressure and the accused must face strictest punishment,” stated a release issued by the state NCP president Sunil Tatkare soon after Munde’s resignation on Tuesday. The release underlined and reminded all that party chief Ajit Pawar too had taken a similar stand in 2012 , when he was accused of benefitting from irregularities in the implementation of irrigation projects. “Ajit dada Pawar has created an example by resigning on high moral grounds,”the statement added.
Munde’s resignation within three months of the new government’s formation is a setback not only for Ajit Pawar’s party but also to CM Fadnavis who has been very careful about how his government is perceived.
The delay in letting go of Munde, said insiders in the ruling alliance was on account of the fact that he is an OBC leader. “In the backdrop of the ongoing tussle between Maratha and OBCs over the last two years, it was difficult for the government to take immediate action against Munde, a powerful Vanjari leader,” one of them said. Without being precipitate, and yet forcing Munde to quit has bunted the opposition’s attack on the Fadnavis government, added this person.