Munde stays, BJP breathes easy

While the OBC leader's supporters are happy that he has called off the revolt to stay put in the saffron party, his dissenters are grateful that the drama has ended

The curtains came down on the BJP's political drama yesterday and, happy ending or not, the credit rolls still feature Gopinath Munde's name. The rebel leader announced last afternoon at the Vidhan Bhavan that he will remain in the BJP.


Gopinath Munde said Sushma Swaraj was not present at the meeting held two days earlier and thus he had gone to the Capital to meet her

While a few in the party think he has been whimsical, most are relieved he hasn't defected. Said a party source, "It's like a brat threatens to leave home and adults in the family persuade him against it."
u00a0
The theatrics that started in the first week of this month ended yesterday giving much-needed relief to the BJP's state unit, which was scared that its grand alliance, the Shiv Sena-BJP-RPI combine, would suffer if the MP from Beed breaks away.

Nonetheless, the party was under immense pressure, what with Munde's rigid posturing and his late-night discussions with prominent Congress leaders in Delhi on Tuesday.

The impatience among Munde's adherents was palpable.

So restive was the situation that after hearing reports of their icon's secret rendezvous with Congress leaders, Pandurang Phundkar, known for his unbending support for the rebel leader, reportedly conveyed to the party top brass in Delhi that he would tender his resignation from the post of Leader of the Opposition in State Council.

It is now a known fact that the anti-Munde camp in the party wanted to replace Phundkar with his bete noire, Vinod Tawde, Gadkari's proposed choice to occupy the Council's seat of Opposition Leader.

"Since the appointment to the post of the Opposition Leader was the contentious issue between Munde and the BJP leadership, I would have put in my papers to end the impasse," Phundkar is believed to have told BJP president Nitin Gadkari "Any other course of action on Munde's part would have had an adverse effect on the party," said Phundkar, propped up in his opinion by MLC Sanjay Kelkar and Pasha Patel.

Party office bearers from Marathwada said that they would have preferred to quit politics than tag along with Munde as he joined the Congress. "Now our political life has increased by at least a decade," said Govind Kendre and Vijay Gavhane, Munde supporters from the region.

As the BJP finally found a way out of the deadlock, the dynamics have changed within the party. MiD DAY dwells over the aftermath of the threatened tectonic shift: who won, who didn't, and what it all means.u00a0

For Munde
The leader has not really had the ground-thumping victory many had thought he would. None of his demands have been fulfilled as of today. The party has made promises but nothing has been committed to paper.

He has not been assured that BJP Pune city chief Vikas Mathkari will be replaced by his aide Yogesh Gogawale.
u00a0
Contrastingly, in 2008, when Munde had resigned from all the party posts to protest the appointment of Madhu Chavan as Mumbai chief, his battle cry of revolt had worked and MLA Gopal Shetty was appointed immediately.

The leader has lost his immense clout in Delhi due to his hobnobbing with Congress and NCP leaders in the BJP's hour of crisis. His political credibility has taken a severe beating.

And he may not command the loyal respect he once did from his party base. nor will any political party be happy to induct him.

His acolytes, MLAs and MPs from the party, have not been unnoticing of the uncertainty that loomed on their political future with Munde's rebellious posture.
u00a0
Many of them were not ready to join the Congress. Their feelings could have compelled Munde to cross out the option of joining the Sonia Gandhi-led party.

More noteworthy is the fact that his media maneuvering backfired when his supporters cleverly leaked the news of his conferences with leaders from the Congress, the NCP and the Shiv Sena. As a reactionary move, his opponents "leaked" his plans to join the nation's Grand Old Party.

For BJP's state unit
The state unit, led by Sudhir Mungantiwar, was thrown in complete disarray soon after the revolt drama began.
u00a0
BJP workers were anxious to know the future of the party that was nurtured in the state by leaders such as Munde and Gadkari.

Had Munde decided to call it quits with the BJP and influenced even a single MLA to resign, it would have neutered the BJP's stature as the single biggest Opposition party in the State Assembly.

Had he managed to influence a couple of MLAs, it would have tilted the balance in favour of the Sena, which only has two seats less than its coalition partner in the Assembly. And that is why Khadse, the Opposition Leader, wore a smile after Munde's decision came in.

Moreover, party leaders feel that with Ramdas Athawale-led RPI joining hands with the Sena-BJP combine, the grand alliance stands to benefit, with a good shot at coming to power in the state in the next general elections.


u00a0
Ghatkopar MLA and a staunch Munde supporter Prakash Mehta was so brimming with gleeful gratitude that he went to the Siddhivinayak temple in Prabhadevi.

For Nitin Gadkari
The BJP's national head may well deserve a word of praise for his deft handling of the situation. Munde's ire was directed at him. So he avoided getting in his face as much as he could. The duo, except a meeting at LK Advani's residence in New Delhi, never met vis- -vis throughout the crisis.

Gadkari thus deflated the personal tension. To avoid any accusations to the effect that he had forced Munde to take a rebellious stand, he made it a party issue, involved senior leaders, and left it to them to work out the future course as concerns Munde.

Even when Sushma Swaraj met Gadkari, soon after successfully persuading Munde on Wednesday, he is believed to have told her, "Senior leaders will take a call on the issues raised by Munde on June 28 and 29."

Then, over the very public ignominy, what with an old hand dusting dirty laundry in public, he said, "But the media coverage over the Munde episode has not been good. It brings a bad name to the party."

Overkill?
Before the impasse was resolved last afternoon, the BJP's command centre in south Mumbai wore a sparse, bleak look yesterday.

Other than senior BJP leader from Maharashtra, Vinod Tawde, hardly anyone had come in to the Nariman Point office. Neither Leader of the Opposition Eknath Khadse, nor BJP State President Sudhir Mungantiwar made an appearance.

But the office did see a bunch of scribes trying to get the punch line of the Munde story. Many in the party saw Munde's drawn-out antics as going on for forever-and-a-day and claimed that they were bored stiff.

A senior party leader from Maharashtra said, "If Munde had wanted to leave, he could have. Many are now bored with his regular tantrums.

He is the OBC leader of the state. But there are many OBC faces that the party has and will soon bring up. So even the rebels realise that the party will not bow down to them."

Incidentally, there is a buzz that Munde could be made state in-charge before the elections.

Who said what?
I am deeply hurt over the rumours of my joining any other party.

I will remain in the in the BJP. I never met Congress leader Ahmed Patel, nor have I discussed anything with CM Prithviraj Chavan. I had aired my grievances before the senior leaders of the party two days back.

Sushma Swaraj was not present during the meeting, so I came here to meet her. I have discussed my issues with her. Now senior leaders should take a call on it.
Gopinath Munde

Munde should not join the Congress. He should not even think about it. Even if he feels insulted in the BJP, it's too late now. The alliance between the Sena and the BJP will remain intact irrespective of Munde's decision.u00a0
Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray

No meeting took place with Gopinath Munde in Delhi. These are rumours. Though I did meet Ahmed Patel, it was for a different issue. I cannot comment whether Munde planned to join the Congress or not.
CM Prithviraj Chavan

"He along with late Pramod Mahajan, was a known face of the state BJP, just like AB Vajpayee and LK Advani. He has contributed to the party for the last 35 years. There was no question of him leaving the party."u00a0
Pankaja Palwe, Mla and Munde's daughter