A fresh political controversy has erupted in Maharashtra after senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan claimed that late BJP leader Gopinath Munde had once decided to defect to the Congress — a claim that has been firmly rejected by Munde’s daughter and sitting Maharashtra minister, Pankaja Munde.
Speaking on Saturday, Chavan asserted that during his tenure as Chief Minister, Munde had secretly explored joining the Congress, with the move reportedly falling through only because then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh opposed inducting him into the Union government.
According to Chavan, the plan was fairly advanced. He claimed everything had been decided, that Munde secretly travelled to New Delhi, and that a meeting was held at 2 am with Congress leader Ahmed Patel, with Manikrao Thakare — then Maharashtra Congress president — also involved, seeking approval from Sonia Gandhi.
Chavan said Munde had sought a position in the Union Cabinet as a condition for switching sides, and that the matter was discussed with then Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who gave her in-principle approval. However, the move was ultimately called off after Manmohan Singh opposed appointing an Opposition MP as a minister.
Chavan, who was Minister of State in the PMO before becoming Maharashtra CM, did not disclose the full details of his conversations with Munde, but said Munde had insisted on being made a minister, citing opposition from “two leaders from Nagpur” to his re-election within the party.
The Political Backdrop
At the time, Munde — one of the BJP’s most prominent OBC leaders in Maharashtra — was reportedly unhappy with his standing in the party. He was believed to be sidelined by then BJP national president Nitin Gadkari, his political rival within the state unit, and his influence in the party was seen as declining after Gadkari took charge — fuelling speculation that he was considering a switch.
Pankaja Munde Hits Back
The claim was swiftly and sharply rejected by Munde’s daughter, Pankaja Munde, currently a Maharashtra minister. She dismissed Chavan’s statement as no longer holding any significance, and pushed back on the suggestion that her father — whom she described as having been “born into” the BJP and having remained in it — could have been described as someone who might have been “imported” into another party or moved between political camps.
Senior BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar also weighed in, arguing that Munde was an important national leader and that Chavan’s claim did not befit his stature, adding that Munde was no longer alive to respond to the allegation himself.
Gopinath Munde, who was serving as Union Minister for Rural Development at the time, died in a road accident in New Delhi on June 3, 2014. He remains a towering figure in Maharashtra’s OBC politics, and any suggestion that he considered leaving the BJP touches a sensitive nerve for both his family and the party, which continues to invoke his legacy in state politics.
The row adds to a long history of friction between Chavan and Maharashtra’s BJP-aligned camps, and comes at a time when questions over old political loyalties continue to surface in the state’s charged political climate.