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MUMBAI:
The BJP’s Pankaja Munde, an outgoing minister in Maharashtra, wept inconsolably after her unexpected defeat in the assembly election as votes were counted today. The 40-year-old conceded defeat even before the results were declared officially.
Pankaja Munde has lost to family her estranged cousin Dhananjay Munde of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), won from Parli.
Dhananjay Munde is the leader of opposition in the legislative council. For him, this win from Parli comes after a long struggle.
Ms Munde told reporters she “respected the people’s verdict” and would continue working for them with renewed vigour. In between tears, she appealed to her party colleagues and supporters to “stay calm” and promised some soul-searching on her defeat.
Ms Munde is the daughter of former union minister Gopinath Munde, who died in 2014. She was Rural Development and Women and Child Development Minister in the government of Devendra Fadnavis, who is set for another term as chief minister after the BJP-Shiv Sena victory.
She is among the party’s prominent faces and was seen as a strong candidate. Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah had campaigned for her.
Days before the election, a video clip of Dhananjay Munde allegedly criticizing Ms Munde was widely circulated online. He disowned the clip.
In the 2014 Maharashtra election, Ms Munde had defeated her cousin. After her win, she was caught in another emotional moment; she was on video weeping as BJP workers celebrated her victory.
Dhananjay Munde had left the BJP to join the NCP in 2009, upset with his uncle Gopinath Munde for fielding his daughter in Parli, a family stronghold
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