top of page

By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

MPs rebellion ‘splits’ even some families

Mumbai: Amid the rebellion by 6 Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs, at least two of them have shot into the spotlight, but for entirely different and non-political reasons – Nagesh Patil-Ashtikar (Hingoli) and Sanjay Dina-Patil (Mumbai North-East). Despite their fathers currently in the process of shifting loyalties to the Shiv Sena headed by Deputy CM Eknath Shinde, the son and daughter, respectively, of both these MPs have chosen to stay anchored firmly with SS (UBT) President and ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray....

MPs rebellion ‘splits’ even some families

Mumbai: Amid the rebellion by 6 Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs, at least two of them have shot into the spotlight, but for entirely different and non-political reasons – Nagesh Patil-Ashtikar (Hingoli) and Sanjay Dina-Patil (Mumbai North-East). Despite their fathers currently in the process of shifting loyalties to the Shiv Sena headed by Deputy CM Eknath Shinde, the son and daughter, respectively, of both these MPs have chosen to stay anchored firmly with SS (UBT) President and ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray. They are Krishna Nagesh Patil-Ashtikar and Rajool Sanjay Patil and both are emerging politicians in their own right and with politically bright prospects. Rajool is a SS (UBT) Municipal Corporator from Ward No. 114 (Bhandup) in her father’ constituency, and Krishna is the official Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidate for the Nanded Local Authorities constituency in the Maharashtra Legislature’s upper house. However, the abrupt rebellion by their fathers - along with four other SS (UBT) MPs has raised question marks on their own loyalties and political moorings – with the MLCs election results scheduled on Monday. A Deputy Leader from Pune guardedly said that “the same norms under the anti-defection laws for parliament would apply” at all levels, preventing the duo (Krishna and Rajool) from following in their fathers’ footsteps. “After all, there are many examples where in the same family, different members owe allegiance to different political parties. They may have made their personal political calculations and survival before taking any plunge blindly in the name of ideology,” the leader told ‘The Perfect Voice’, requesting anonymity. A Mumbai leader averred that in case the political sand slips - for whatever reasons - in the ongoing defection drama, at least all in the family may not have to pay the price for a botch-up, as “these youngsters still have a long road ahead in politics”. On June 18, when Ashtikar’s name came among the six potential turncoats, Krishna faced an embarrassing situation as the MLC polling was underway that day. Krishna quickly mouthed bites to proclaim his allegiance to Thackeray and an equally bewildered Rajool - elected as a BMC corporator just six months ago - instantly declared her support to SS (UBT) and even joined a protest against her father’s decision. Both the youngsters confronting a peculiar family-cum-political divide put up brave faces and publicly claimed that they had “absolutely no inkling” of the political coup currently underway and are firmly with Thackeray. For the present, however, the SS (UBT) camp is somewhat relieved that the damage caused by the proposed exit of the 6 MPs has not percolated to their family members, affording it time to take some proactive measures to prevent a similar scenario in the coming times. SS (UBT) Deputy Leader dares MP’s son A skeptical SS (UBT) Deputy Leader Sushma Andhare and others immediately pounced on Krishna Ashtikar, questioning the credibility of his words after his father and party MP from Hingoli Nagesh Patil-Ashtikar’s plans to switch sides. “Go and perform your father’s funeral rituals (pind-daan) immediately to prove your claims that you are different from your father…” a livid Andhare dared Krishna, who retorted by saying that he is “answerable only to the SS (UBT) supremo and none else”.

The Habitual Rebel

Updated: Nov 18, 2024

Pankaja Munde

Pankaja Munde is not contesting the assembly elections this year. However, she has been campaigning for other candidates nominated by the party. In her own words, she has been travelling across the state trying to mend ways between the Maratha and the OBC communities. The communities are on loggerheads after the Manoj Jarange-Patil’s Maratha quota stir that wanted Marathas to be identified as OBCs. She belongs to prominent OBC caste Vanjari and hence it is believed that she had been trying to consolidate the OBC vote for her party candidates.


Born on July 26, 1979, in Parli Vaijnath to Pradnya and Gopianth Munde, a senior BJP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Pankaja completed her schooling at Shri Saraswati Vidyalaya in Parli and later attended Jai Hind College in Mumbai. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Ramnarain Ruia College in 1999. She also has a management degree and is married to Amit Palwe, an IT professional. The couple have a son named Aryaman.


Pankja had been in headlines for all the wrong reasons over the past decade. It began even before the 2014 assembly election after the accidental demise of her father, who was then a union minister. Just ahead of the assembly polls she called herself the ‘CM in people’s minds’. It was considered to be the expression of her innate desire to rule the state and an expression related to the power struggle in the party.


After the election, she became minister of Rural Development, Women and Child Development, and Earthquake Rehabilitation departments. However, the ‘CM in people’s minds’ tag followed her. She used to speak about it too often. Unfortunately she also received the tag of the first minister of Devendra Fadnavis cabinet whose corruption was exposed. Though there was no immediate political loss to her, the corruption charges that came to be known as ‘Chikki Scam’ stuck to her name for a long time. To add to this insult, she had to bare the injury of losing assembly election in 2019. She wanted herself to be politically rehabilitated immediately. However, that too didn’t happen quickly.


In 2020 she was appointed as the National Secretary of the BJP. However, she kept sulking and lost the chance to take part in strengthening the party’s organizational structure and expanding its reach at the grassroots level.

espite facing challenges and controversies, Pankaja has remained steadfast in her commitment to public service. In the mean time she has mended ways with family members, especially estranged cousin Dhananjay Munde, for whom she even campaign in this election. It’ll be interesting to see how her political career takes turns in the future.

Comments

bottom of page