Dhananjay Munde resigns as minister

NCP leader submits resignation citing health reasons while party chief Ajit Pawar says the minister stepped down “on moral grounds”

Mumbai/Pune: Controversial Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde resigned from the cabinet on Tuesday citing health grounds, which was promptly accepted by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Mumbai, India - March 2, 2025: CM Devendra Fadnavis interacts with Dhanajay Miunde, during tea session before budget assembly session at Sahyadri Guest House in Mumbai, India, on Sunday, March 2, 2025. (Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

Munde, a leader of the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), had been under mounting pressure to quit following the arrest of his election manager in the murder of a village head who was tortured to death in Beed in December. Munde, 49, is a two-term MLA from Parli assembly constituency and his resignation is a blow to Ajit Pawar with whom he shares close ties. He began his political career under the patronage of his uncle, the late BJP leader Gopinath Munde, but charted his independent course after the senior Munde picked his daughter Pankaja over him as his political heir.

Last December, in the backdrop of the long-simmering tensions between the Maratha and the OBC communities in Marathwada, Santosh Deshmukh, the popular Maratha village head of Massajog in Beed district was tortured and murdered. He had been trying to stop an extortion attempt directed at one of the green energy companies that dot this part of Marathwada, said investigators. Munde’s close aide and election manager Walmik Karad was directly implicated in the murder by the police after a relentless campaign for justice mounted by the villagers. Karad’s arrest put Munde on the spot: the opposition clamoured for his resignation, and activist Anjali Damania made damning revelations about his business ties with Karad. BJP lawmaker from Ashti Patoda constituency, Suresh Dhas too launched a high-decibel campaign against Munde and Karad’s “reign of terror” in Beed while his cousin and BJP leader Pankaja Munde too claimed that “morality had been murdered in Beed” in an interview to a Marathi newspaper.

A series of 15 videos and eight photographs leaked on social media on Monday revealed the extent of the brutality with which Santosh Deshmukh was killed. People in the chief minister’s office said that when Fadnavis saw the videos and the photographs, he summoned a meeting at his residence with NCP leaders Ajit Pawar, Praful Patel, Maharashtra NCP president Sunil Tatkare and Munde himself. At the late night meeting, Fadnavis stressed that Munde will have to step down as the leaked photos and video had created great anguish and unrest among the people.

The videos showed Deshmukh being kicked, punched and beaten with pipes and rods. At one point he was forced to sit up and chant, ‘Sudarshan Ghule [one of the accused] is the father of all.’ In yet another video an accused can be seen urinating on Deshmukh as he lay bleeding to his death. These videos and photos are also part of the charge sheet, as earlier reported by HT.

In a post on X on Tuesday, Munde, demanded the strictest punishment for the accused. He cited visuals of Deshmukh’s torture and said he was deeply saddened. “The investigation into this matter has been completed and the charge sheet filed. Also, a judicial inquiry is proposed,” he wrote. NCP insiders revealed that Munde wanted to explain his side of the story in the state assembly before resigning. But both Fadnavis and Pawar turned down his request and asked him to go quietly.

“Remembering my conscience and as my health has not been good for the past few days, I have submitted my resignation from the cabinet to the chief minister following the advice of the doctor to take treatment for the next few days,” Munde added in his post.

What next?

When Ajit Pawar split the NCP in July 2023, Munde, who had served as a minister in the MVA government, emerged as a key ally for Ajit Pawar. He was tasked with getting other NCP lawmakers to split ranks with Sharad Pawar. For long, he has been regarded as one of the state’s more important OBC leader along with Chhagan Bhujbal. His resignation is likely to pave the way for Chhagan Bhujbal’s return to the spotlight. Bhujbal has been in deep sulk after he was not inducted in Fadnavis’s cabinet.

To be sure, the entire episode has dented the NCP’s image and the party has been left scrambling to save face. “Dhananjay Munde’s decision to resign is based on moral grounds. It is our expectation that Santosh Deshmukh should be investigated without any pressure and the accused must face strictest punishment,” stated a release issued by the state NCP president Sunil Tatkare soon after Munde’s resignation on Tuesday. The release underlined and reminded all that party chief Ajit Pawar too had taken a similar stand when he was accused of irrigation scam in 2012. “Ajit dada Pawar has created an example by resigning on high moral grounds,” it added further.

Munde’s resignation within three months of the new government formation is a setback not only for Ajit Pawar’s party but also to some extent for CM Fadnavis who has been very careful about the optics of his new government.

The delay in letting Munde go, said insiders in the ruling alliance was on account of the fact that Munde is an OBC leader. “In the backdrop of the ongoing tussle between Maratha and OBCs over the last two years, it was difficult for the government to take immediate action against Munde, a powerful Vanjari leader. Even the Massajog sarpanch’s murder had a Maratha vs OBC angle. The BJP leadership cleverly maintained the pressure on Munde through its own MLA Suresh Dhas who kept up the attack on Munde,” he added. Without being precipitate and yet forcing Munde to quit has bunted the opposition’s attack on the Fadnavis government, said the leader.