Amid the ongoing Beed sarpanch murder case, Maharashtra Food and Civil Supplies Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Dhananjay Munde submitted his resignation today. The resignation comes a day after the photos of the murder of Beed sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh went viral and Munde’s close aide Walmik Karad is one of the accused in the case. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis held a late-night meeting with Deputy CM and NCP chief Ajit Pawar on Monday, along with senior NCP leaders, including Munde, to discuss the issue.
Speaking on the entire controversy, Munde On X wrote, "My firm demand from the very first day regarding the brutal murder of Santosh Deshmukh from Massajog in Beed district has been that the accused should receive the harshest possible punishment. After seeing the photos that emerged yesterday, I am deeply disturbed. The investigation in this case has been completed, and the charge sheet has been filed in court. A judicial inquiry is also proposed. Given my sense of responsibility and the deterioration in my health over the past few days, with doctors advising me to take treatment for the next few days, I have, on medical grounds, submitted my resignation from the cabinet to the Honorable Chief Minister."
Munde, 49, is an MLA from Ajit Pawar's NCP and represents Beed's Parli seat in the Maharashtra Assembly. The nephew of BJP veteran late Gopinath Munde, he is a cousin of Maharashtra minister Pankaja Munde. He joined the NCP in 2013 following a split in the Sharad Pawar-led party in 2023 and sided with Ajit Pawar. In the past, he has served as Leader of the Opposition in the legislative council and as a state minister in the Uddhav Thackeray government. Besides serving as the legislator from Parli, Munde was also Beed district's guardian minister, a fact that drew increased criticism from the Opposition over the NCP leader's relations with the accused in the sarpanch's murder.