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Thackeray 2.0: The story of the Munde cousins and a divided OBC legacy

NewsThackeray 2.0: The story of the Munde cousins and a divided OBC legacy
In many ways, the story of the Mundes can make for a great movie—it has action, emotions, drama, revenge. It is a story of a crowned princess and an unhappy and dejected prince. It is the story of a small Marathwada town, which yearns to see its first political family back together. It is the story of grit, perseverance, hard work, ego clashes, political games and lust for power. Set in the backdrop of sugarcane politics in a region which still faces development backlog, it is a story of one OBC family’s aspiration to make it big in the world of politics. Today, divided by party lines, the two Munde scions and sworn political archrivals—Pankaja Munde and Dhananjay Munde—are busy carving out a place for themselves on the political landscape of Maharashtra.

THE MUNDE LEGACY

For Parli Vaijnath, the hometown to the two cousins, their political journeys mark an end of its dream to see them together again. It now preserves only the memories of them travelling together to campaign for the late OBC leader, Gopinath Munde. It remembers the days when its “Pankaja tai” and “Dhanu dada” refused to eat without each other, after long days of campaigning.

Individually, for the two of them, the journey so far has been equally trying, they say. For Dhananjay, who grew up with strong political aspirations since his young age, it has been a journey of dejection, hard work and bitterness, he says. He defected from BJP to NCP in 2013. For Pankaja, who grew up without any political aspirations, it has been a journey of suddenly being made responsible for carrying forward the political legacy of Gopinath Munde.

Today, Pankaja is a young Cabinet minister in the Devendra Fadnavis government. The late BJP leader, Union minister and ex-Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Gopinath Munde had announced his daughter’s candidature to the Assembly elections in 2009. He had declared her to be his political inheritor. “He called me one day and told me that I had to fill my papers for the Assembly elections the next day. I was not asked, nor consulted, I was only told to be ready for the next day,” Pankaja recollects.

Dhananjay, on the other hand, is the face of the rival Nationalist Congress Party in Marathwada. So much is the faith reposed by Maratha strongman Sharad Pawar’s party in him, that he single-handedly campaigned for the NCP in the recent local body elections in Marathwada. Party leaders say his blazing leadership resulted in the humiliating defeat of Pankaja Munde in her own home constituency, during these local body elections.

In a party dominated by the Marathas, Dhananjay, a Vanjari, has been given the post of the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council at a young age, say political analysts. “Till 2009, I had spent over a decade in student politics, working to get absorbed in state politics of BJP. Since those times till today, it has been an uphill journey. People say, it is because of my uncle that I have reached so far. But I have worked very hard to reach here,” he says.

Gopinath Munde had passed away in a road accident in Delhi two years ago. He was a Union minister then. What he left behind is a legacy divided between his daughter Pankaja and nephew Dhananjay Munde. While Pankaja claims the political inheritance of Gopinath Munde, Dhananjay categorically states that he is the rightful inheritor of his legacy of struggle. “I would say that there are two types of legacies of my uncle. One is the political legacy and the other is the legacy of struggle for the downtrodden. I carry that mantle ahead. I do not claim to carry his political legacy. For that, he had already named his daughter,” he told The Sunday Guardian.

GAD POLITICS OF MARATHWADA

Parli Vaijnath, which recently meted out a humiliating defeat to its guardian minister Pankaja Munde-Palwe in the recent local body elections, is now gearing up to mark the 67th birth anniversary of its late OBC leader Gopinath Munde. Tomorrow, that is on Monday, 12 December, this small town in Marathwada’s Beed district will see a huge programme at Gopinathgad, hosted by his daughter and political inheritor Pankaja. “Like last year, we have organised programmes for the benefit of the community. We have aligned with various NGOs to organise skill development camps for educated, unemployed youth,” says Pankaja. The chief guest at this function will be Uttam Swami. “He is a renowned spiritual figure from North India,” she adds.

Namdev Shastri, the mahant of Bhagwangad, had stopped Pankaja Munde two months ago from addressing the annual Dasara rally from Bhagwangad. In an embarrassment for Pankaja, the police had stopped the district’s own guardian minister from entering the premise of Bhagwangad. Overcoming this, she addressed a huge rally of thousands of supporters at the foothills of Bhagwangad. This was her show of strength.

Bhagwangad, popularised by Gopinath Munde as the political power centre of the Vanjari community, had thus witnessed a raging controversy surrounding Pankaja Munde in October. Suhas Sardeshmukh, a senior political journalist with a Marathi newspaper from Aurangabad, says, “Bhagwangad’s importance was increased by Gopinath Munde himself. It was his political strategy to make politics revolve around these religious power centres. You will not find this politics around any Gad (fort) in any other district in Marathwada. It is peculiar here. So you have this ‘Gad-culture’, whereby each fort is the political stronghold of each community, be it the Marathas, the Vanjaris. This has been done for vote-bank politics. The economics of these Gads is run by the politicians. Every year, Gopinath Munde used to give the Dasara speech from atop Bhagwangad. He used to make emotional appeals to the Vanjari community, saying that he could see Delhi from there.”

Pankaja Munde

The political rivalry between the brother and sister was further entrenched after this incident. A resident of Parli posted an old picture of Dhananjay and Pankaja together on Facebook at that time, and appealed to the mahant of Bhagwangad to unite them.  On 8 October, one Datta Karad from Parli Vaijnath posted, “Shastriji, instead of showing this day to our community (where Dhananjay and Pankaja reunite), why are you dividing the Vanjari community? If something goes wrong, you won’t have to face any problems, but the loss to the entire Vanjari community will be huge. So please don’t work against the community by falling prey to outsiders. My prayers at the feet of Bhagwan Baba that may he bless them with good thoughts.” Both the brother and sister have been trying to establish their hold over the Gad, which was brought into prominence by the late Munde as a symbol of power of his Vanjari community. At present, the head of the Bhagwangad trust is in support of Dhananjay Munde, local reporters told The Sunday Guardian.

COUSIN VS COUSIN

“In many ways, the story of the Mundes is similar to that of the Thackerays,” remarked senior journalist and political analyst Abhay Deshpande. “Even in the case of the Thackerays, Raj Thackeray was earlier thought to be the de-facto inheritor of Balasaheb Thackeray’s legacy. Raj was always seen together with Balasaheb, he reflected the same qualities in terms of oratory and other things. So, it came as a surprise to many when Balasaheb declared the name of Uddhav to be his inheritor. It was the same case with the Mundes too. Dhananjay was always seen together with Gopinath Munde. He had political aspirations since a very young age. Even in his student days in Pune, he was politically aggressive, and was grooming himself to become a political leader. So, he was looked at as the de-facto inheritor of Gopinath Munde’s legacy. That is why, when Pankaja’s name was announced by Gopinathji, it came as a suprise to many. Somewhere, it seems that Gopinathji is likely to have grown suspicious about his political aspirations,” Deshpande said.

Dhananjay’s supporters say they felt betrayed and dejected. “Dhanu dada was sidelined so many times. He is such a dashing leader. Nobody can hold his hand in oratory, in leadership. You have to see how much mass support he has. He works for the downtrodden. He has a very bright future. He is a friend to everyone. He will be there with you in your hour of need. But for how long will a dashing leader tolerate such insult? We have seen Dhanu dada’s unflinching loyalty and love for Gopinathji. Once, during the election campaign in 2009, someone had spat on Gopinathji’s sandals. Dhanu dada cleaned it with his own handkerchief before Gopinathji returned. Who does that?” asked Bajrang Sonawne, an ardent follower of Dhananjay Munde and an NCP office-bearer. He claimed that Pankaja Munde insulted and ignored Dhananjay Munde a few times on public platforms. “Such sly tricks were used against him. She used to organise programmes and not invite him. His name from the invitation cards of programmes used to be struck down. All these things are quite humiliating,” he said. The claim could not be verified.

Dhananjay’s supporters claimed that Dhananjay and his father Pandit Anna Munde always supported the political career of Gopinath Munde, and yet they were restricted to local politics.

“Gopinathji used to openly say during so many public occasions that Dhananjay would be my inheritor. During a public rally in 2009, he openly said that Dhananjay would look after Maharashtra now that he aspired to enter national politics,” he said further. The claim was strongly denied by Pankaja.

“Saheb (Gopinath Munde) never said this in private or in public. Even at home, he never mentioned such a thing. If he would have said that, he would not have gone back on his word,” she told The Sunday Guardian.

“After being the president of BJP’s youth wing, by rule I should have become the party’s president (in the state). But that rule was changed. I was denied that position in 2009. I still don’t know why. Am still searching the answer as to why I was sidelined,” Dhananjay told the correspondent.

But critics say he extracted his revenge after Pankaja became minister in the Fadnavis government. It is believed that he leaked information of the chikki scam to the media. It landed her in trouble. “Those were the worst times. No woman should be targeted the way she was. The Opposition reached new lows during that time. But Pankaja tai is a woman of grit, a born fighter, a dashing leader. It is a rule that the ball will bounce higher, the lower you try to push it. She is a star campaigner who enjoys the support of many communities. She has a bright political future,” said minister Mahadev Jankar, a close confidant of Pankaja Munde.

During the recent local body elections, Dhananjay Munde launched a scathing attack on the Munde sisters during his last public rally in Parli on 25 November. “These sisters are here with all of you only during the elections. Every time, they show you new dreams, without saying a word on when the old dreams will be fulfilled. They come, they make emotional appeals to you. But the Parlikars have now decided that they will not get emotional. They will stand by those who bring development to their doorstep… Today, I am standing alone here in Parli, and look, so many have come to defeat me. They have got the Chief Minister, the Finance Minister. I say, let them now call Narendra Modi too. I am standing alone here,” he said in a late night gathering. The crowds cheered as he talked. 

When asked why Pankaja thought she was targeted, she said, “What can I say? They exist because of that. But I have learnt in my life that I cannot hate anybody. I have seen my family drift away. I have to keep my heart clear and not hate anybody. I know I am portrayed wrongly in the media. Whatever I do, is projected in a completely different light. Have I done anything anti-social? But I have been portrayed as impatient. I will keep working positively, come what may.”

LAST ATTEMPT

“History would have taken note of the Munde family had it stuck together. It would have become such a huge name and would have given a prosperous leadership to Beed. But it is not to be. Many attempts were made to bring the cousins together. The last attempt was made after Pandit Anna’s demise a few months ago. It was proposed that Pankaja handle national politics, while state politics would be handled by Dhananjay. But it was rejected by Pankaja,” a political activist said. Dhananjay admitted that such a proposal was indeed made.

 

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