Lok Sabha defeat: Pankaja Munde's political journey at crossroads

File photo of Pankaja Munde

What was deemed to be the relaunch of Pankanja Munde in Maharashtra politics has turned out to be a setback for her. After the defeat in the Lok Sabha polls, Munde is staring at an uncertain future. She can't contest the upcoming Vidhan Sabha polls as the seat is occupied by Mahayuti's alliance partner NCP's MLA. In such a scenario, her political journey has come to a standstill.

After winning the Parli Vidhan Sabha constituency of Beed for the second time in 2014, Munde aspired to become the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. After the elections, before the CM face was chosen, Munde couldn't hide her ambition and said that people wanted her to be the CM. However, to her disappointment, the BJP leadership chose Devendra Fadnavis for the coveted post.

The five-year period of the government saw her acrimonious relationship with Fadnavis. In the 2019 Assembly polls, Munde lost the seat. She was defeated by her cousin Dhananjay Munde, who contested from an NCP ticket.

Dhananjay Munde had a friendly relationship with Devendra Fadnavis, and this led Pankaja Munde to believe that Fadnavis was behind her defeat. Her followers believed that Fadnavis was systematically sidelining the leaders within BJP who could be his competitors for the CM's post in the next tenure.

In the last few years, the media had often been abuzz with news of her unhappiness with the party. A few years back, there were talks that she was considering launching her own organization.

After her defeat in the assembly polls, Munde was shifted away from Maharashtra politics and was made BJP's National Secretary.

However, she always strived to get back into state politics. She got a chance to relaunch herself in Maharashtra when her name was announced as the BJP candidate from the Beed Lok Sabha constituency.

The constituency had been a bastion of the BJP since 2009. Pankaja's father and BJP's late stalwart Gopinath Munde was elected from this seat in 2009 and 2014. After his death in an accident in 2014, Pankaja's younger sister Pritam was elected from the seat. Pritam Munde was re-elected in 2019 as well.

Pankaja was confident of winning the Lok Sabha polls, but the Maratha agitation for reservations in jobs and education damaged her prospects. Munde, who is an OBC leader, gave a statement last year that Marathas should be given reservation separately and not from the OBC quota. Her words didn't go down well with the Maratha agitators.

Although she desisted from speaking on the issue after the initial outbursts, the election in her constituency, like other constituencies, became a Maratha vs. OBC contest. Capitalizing on the caste dynamics, Sharad Pawar fielded Maratha leader Bajrang Sonawane against her. In a tough contest, Munde lost to Sonawane by 6,553 votes.

What will be Pankaja Munde's political trajectory after the defeat? Dhananjay Munde, the incumbent MLA from Parli, belongs to NCP, a constituent of Mahayuti, so it is unlikely that BJP will claim that seat and field Pankaja from there. She can keep herself relevant in politics only if the BJP leadership decides to send her to either Rajya Sabha or the Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad).