The Hindu : National : Munde upset, quits party posts

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Monday, Apr 21, 2008
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National

Munde upset, quits party posts

Special Correspondent

“Democratic decision-making lacking”

Gopinath Munde

MUMBAI: In a move that has taken the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by surprise, its national general secretary Gopinath Munde on Sunday resigned from all his posts and said he would now continue as an ordinary worker. Mr. Munde was also involved with the Kisan Morcha and was part of the party’s central election committee.

State BJP sources said the move was unexpected and even on Saturady evening, Mr. Munde was present at a function to launch a book on the late Jan Sangh president, Jhamatmal Wadhwani, which was also attended by BJP leader L.K. Advani.

Mr. Munde told reporters in Aurangabad on Sunday that he had resigned as he was very unhappy with the lack of democratic decision-making in the party.

After the current Assembly session which ends on April 25, he would tour the State and interact with party workers at all levels. He was sure that party workers would share his feelings. Soon after his resignation, there were unconfirmed reports that many of his supporters were resigning from their posts in his hometown of Beed and other areas.

Mr. Munde’s move came after the appointment of Madhu Chavan as the president of the Mumbai BJP unit was announced on Sunday. He, however, clarified that his resignation had nothing to do with Mr. Chavan’s appointment and that he was not unhappy about it. He said he was concerned about the overall functioning of the party. He also said he had informed BJP president Rajnath Singh about his decision to resign.

The last straw

After the death of senior leader Pramod Mahajan, Mr. Munde was appointed as the national general secretary. However, he was unhappy about being asked to take up responsibilities at the national level. Differences also exist within the party in Maharashtra and the appointment of Mr. Chavan seems to have been the last straw.

However, BJP sources said it was Mr. Munde’s idea to appoint a Mumbai city president by consensus and a three member committee was appointed for this purpose. The committee comprising senior party leaders Ved Prakash Goyal, Bal Apte and Ram Naik decided on Madhu Chavan.

Party sources said the party was not going to accept his resignation.

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