Not only the figures witnessed in the recent Lok Sabha (LS) elections but also the mounting pressure from workers and state level leaders have forced Bharatiya Janata Party’s national leadership to bring back Gopinath Munde in action in the state politics. He will be in-charge of the election campaign in the state in the ensuing Assembly election.
Gopinath Munde, the mass leader and party face in Maharashtra, was reportedly kept away from the decision making process and the campaign for the recent election. Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi was roped in as the in-charge, resulting in Munde taking a backseat. BJP faced a debacle winning just four seats.
Ever since the LS results, the sources in the party claim, the MLAs and the district level workers have been demanding Munde to be brought back to action for the Assembly election. On Saturday, party president Rajnath Singh announced the appointment of Munde. “After discussions held with workers at various levels in the last two days, the decision has been taken to appoint general secretary Munde as the in-charge of the assembly elections in the state,” he said.
While rubbishing the news that Modi has been discontinued as the election in-charge of Maharashtra for the assembly elections, Singh said that his appointment was only for the LS elections. “He will continue to be our star campaigner on the national level and will be campaigning in Maharashtra too,” he stated.
Sources in the BJP said that the demand was being made for a change in leadership in the state in the wake of the LS results, but the national leaders thought it improper to change the state unit chief ahead of the elections. “The state unit chief in Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh have been changed after the poor results in the LS elections. LK
Advani was in favour of changes in Maharashtra too. Today’s decision is fallout of the consensus made across the rank and files,” he added.
It may be noted that Munde has been sidelined in the state leadership for last couple of years and that had resulted in his resigning from all organisational post in April 2008. He was then convinced to take back his resignation, but even then, he hardly enjoyed the central place in the state level party politics.
Leaders from his opponent camp in the party, Nitin Gadkari and Vinod Tawde, have welcomed the appointment.
