Mumbai: In a potentially significant political development in Maharashtra, the Congress is apparently wooing Karuna Dhananjay Sharma-Munde - the woman who has repeatedly challenged NCP strongman Dhananjay Panditrao Munde - with party’s state President Harshwardhan Sapkal holding discussions with her on a possible induction into the party.
Sharma-Munde, 47, confirmed on Friday that she had recently met Sapkal and discussed the possibility of joining the Congress. The party has reportedly made her an offer, suggesting specific responsibilities and organisational positions, but she is yet to take a final call.
“I have earlier met Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar. He wanted me to join the party. If the BJP and NCP have a ‘Munde’ each, then even the Congress should have one,” she remarked, dropping broad hints about her possible entry, while keeping details of her latest meeting close to the chest.
Simultaneously, Sharma-Munde, who heads her three-year-old political outfit, Swarajya Shakti Sena (SSS), said a large number of her supporters, party workers and well-wishers were urging her to join the Congress.
“I am considering all this, but have not made up my mind. I shall discuss it with my party people before taking a final decision,” she said.
Her likely entry into the Congress could spell political implications in the state particularly in Beed district, where the Munde family has wielded considerable clout for over four decades.
Political Debut
Sharma-Munde contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Beed against BJP’s Pankaja Munde, who lost to NCP (SP) candidate Bajrang Sonawane. She subsequently attempted to take on Dhananjay Munde from Parli assembly constituency that year, but her nomination was rejected.
In April 2026, she entered the electoral fray in the Baramati Assembly by-election against NCP president Sunetra Pawar, widow of former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit A. Pawar, but failed to make a dent.
A senior Congress leader said the party had been actively working to expand its organisational footprint across Maharashtra over the past two years and the interaction with the SSS leadership was part of this broader exercise.
However, he declined to identify other political groups or individuals being approached, whether the SSS would merge with Congress and other aspects, describing it as an ‘internal political strategy’.
Counter-Claims
Hailing from Indore in Madhya Pradesh, Sharma-Munde is a Mumbai-based businesswoman who runs a garments import-export enterprise and is also associated with the NGO Jeevanjyot.
She shot into the political spotlight through her contentious claim of being the ‘first wife’ of Dhananjay P. Munde, an ex-minister and prominent NCP leader. She maintained that the two entered into an inter-caste love marriage in January 1998 and have a son and a daughter.
Amid mounting social and political pressure, Dhananjay Munde acknowledged in 2003 that he had been in a long-term consensual relationship with Sharma-Munde and accepted the children.
