The Munde Muddle

Why the OBC leader wants to leave the BJP, but can’t

The BJP is facing a severe crisis in Maharashtra. At its core, it is an ego clash between BJP President Nitin Gadkari and the party’s OBC face in the state Gopinath Munde. In recent days, the clash has escalated into a full-blown war that threatens a vertical divide in the state BJP unit. Gadkari, a Maharashtrian himself like many of his RSS colleagues, simply refuses to let Munde control the party in the state. This irks Munde. So much so that he has been sending signals to the Congress through his good friend Vilasrao Deshmukh for an audience with Sonia Gandhi. Word in the air suggests that he is ready to defect to the Congress in exchange for a Cabinet berth.

Of course, it is a party Munde has criticised for the past 25 years. Not only has he been critical of Sonia’s leadership, he has also mocked Congressmen for following the orders of a “foreign woman”. But then, realpolitik has its own dictates. As for the Congress’ own ideological qualms (or lack thereof) in accepting him, remember its Maharashtra and Goa units have always been welcoming of saffron defectors.

In any case, Munde probably reckons that staying on in the BJP is too difficult for him. Having gone quite far in his rebellion against Gadkari, he must either start his own political outfit or switch parties. Joining the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is not an option, since Sharad Pawar has publicly announced that he has “nothing to offer Munde”. He cannot go with the Shiv Sena either, as it is a BJP ally; the Sena chief Bal Thackeray has even advised Munde to stay with the BJP.

Munde has had restless phases earlier too. For years, he and his brother-in-law, the late Pramod Mahajan, ran Maharashtra’s BJP unit like their own fiefdom. However, Munde was sidelined after Mahajan’s death. In time, leaders who had been pushed aside by the Munde-Mahajan duo rose in stature, and political observers say that this is proving to be the OBC leader’s undoing. Among other things, he stands accused by his detractors of rank nepotism; while he is an MP, his daughter Pankaja Palwe is an MLA, nephew Dhananjay Munde is an MLC, and niece Poonam Mahajan is an office bearer of the BJP Yuva Morcha. The leader’s trump card is his sway over the state’s OBC votes, of which the Congress is aware. In fact, the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee has conducted its own research to study the impact Munde could have on Congress fortunes if he joins. The gains, reportedly, would be worth their while. However, if the party lets him in, it’s unlikely he would be allowed to attain the stature he had in the BJP. Consider Narayan Rane’s case. He switched from the BJP to the Congress expecting to become CM, but the latter had other plans.

Regardless of which way Munde goes, the revolt is not good news for the state BJP. Ever since the BJP-led NDA lost power at the Centre, the party has been in decline in Maharashtra. Its record as an opposition party in the state is miserable, and its stock is so low that the Shiv Sena is beginning to see it as a drag instead of an asset. Elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) are scheduled for early next year, and the Sena, which has run it for over two decades, fears that a muddled BJP will pull it down too.

The Sena, don’t forget, has split. Next year’s BMC election will also be the first for Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. Now, Shiv Sena Executive President Uddhav Thackeray is doing his utmost to counter that threat and retain power at the BMC. Sources say that if the BJP’s internal strife worsens, the Sena might quit the alliance. So sorting out the Munde mess is important to the BJP. This is something the state’s Congress unit might furtively help the BJP do—if only to resist his possible entry. A major faction of the state Congress does not want Munde as a member. “Anyway, we also have our fixed votes, like every other party. Those who vote for Munde may well be voting BJP, not only Munde. So how can such votes translate into Congress votes?” asks an agitated senior Congress leader, “Why should the Congress be a dumping ground for those who cannot fulfill their ambitions in other parties? What about us, who have been loyal Congressmen throughout?”

BJPGopinath MundeMaharashtra