It would not be good decision for any party to deny ticket to me, says Pankaja Munde

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Pankaja Munde on Wednesday said it would not be a good decision for any party not to give her a ticket for the 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections.

The former state minister was speaking at a function organised by the news channel. Why would my party not field me. It would not be a good decision for any party not to give election ticket to a candidate like me. If they take such a decision, they will have to answer people's questions, she said to a question. Pankaja, who was defeated in 2019 in Parli assembly seat by her estranged cousin and NCP leader Dhananjay Munde, also said she was not looking for a new constituency. 

I will also not replace my sister (Lok Sabha member Pritam Munde), Pankaja added. On her 2019 defeat, Munde said, You need to see the number of votes that got diverted due to some candidates. If some 15,000 votes (of Dhananjay Munde) had got divided, I would have won the election.

On sympathetic comments made about her by NCP leader Supriya Sule, Pankaja Munde said, Perhaps she is going through now what I had gone through some 10-12 years ago." Dhananjay Munde, notably, is now with the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP which rebelled against Sharad Pawar, and serving as a state minister in the Shiv Sena-BJP-NCP government.