New Delhi, April 22
Two-day-old crisis in the BJP in Maharashtra blew over today with party general secretary Gopinath Munde, who had raised a banner of revolt against the party, withdrawing his resignation from party posts at the initiative of senior leader and
primeministerial candidate Lal Krishan Advani.
After remaining defiant yesterday, ignoring summons by the party leadership for talks, Munde, who resigned as BJP’s general secretary, relented today and came to New Delhi for a marathon meeting of state leaders convened by Advani.
Munde, a prominent leader of other backward classes (OBC), also ruled out quitting the party. Munde decided to come to the Capital after Advani spoke to him, sources stressed.
BJP president Rajnath Singh told news persons that the issues in the Maharashtra unit had been sorted out amicably after proper consultations.
Immediately after the meeting, BJP’s Mumbai unit chef Madhu Chavan was removed and was replaced by Gopal Shetty.
The saffron party also announced that the coming Assembly election in Maharashtra would be fought under the leadership of Munde, who yesterday called on Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, party’s ally in the state, to apprise him of his stand.
The chief of Maharashtra’s BJP unit and Munde’s detractor Nitin Gadkari told reporters “Mundeji had some issues with few decisions in the state unit.”
However, Gadkari said after meeting national leaders here, all concerns had been sorted out and the next elections would be fought under Mundeji’s leadership. He enjoyed the trust of the party and its workers, Gadkari added.
Munde said Advani told him that it could have been better if the concerns were conveyed to him before approaching the media on the issue. “I agreed it could have been better.”
