BJP is in the blood of Pankaja Munde, says party's Maha chief Bawankule

Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Friday downplayed the statement of former MLA Pankaja Munde that she belongs to the party but the party does not belong to her.

Pankaja Munde, daughter of BJP stalwart late Gopinath Munde, is often at the centre of speculation that she has been sidelined since her defeat in the 2019 Assembly polls from stronghold Parli to Nationalist Congress Party leader and cousin Dhananjay Munde.

After the first expansion of the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis cabinet in August 2022, she had said she might not have been qualified enough to get a berth, which once again led to talks about her being unhappy in the saffron camp.

Speaking to reporters in Hingoli, Bawankule said, "The BJP is in the blood of Pankaja Munde. She is the inheritor of Gopinath Munde's legacy. She is working day and night to strengthen the party."

On Maharashtra NCP chief Jayant Patil's comments that the BJP is facing issues due to some NCP functionaries joining it, Bawankule said his party is an ocean and all those getting inducted will be given work as per their strength.

"It is an open offer. Those who want to join the BJP can come and work as per our ideology. The BJP is an ocean and can accommodate all," Bawankule claimed.