Beed: A financial cloud looms over Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Pankja Munde's flagship Vaidyanath Cooperative Sugar Mill in Parali taluka which faces the threat of auction over a staggering ₹203.69 crore debt. This development adds to Munde's political troubles
Mounting Debt:
Union Bank of India has initiated the auction process for debt recovery, months after the Goods and Services Tax (GST) department served a notice for ₹19 crore in unpaid levies. At the time, workers had protested and offered to crowdfund the amount. Now, the mill faces auction due to the remaining debt of 209 crore.
Munde, who serves as the mill's president, finds her name alongside several others such as Ashroba Kale, Bhausaheb Ghodke, Bhimrao Tambe, Dattatray Deshmukh, Srinivas Dixitulu, Dnyanoba Munde, Fulchand Karad, Ganpatrao Bansode, Jamanabai Lahoti, Keshav Mali, Kisanrao Shingare, Mahadevrao Munde, Namdev Aaghav, Pandurangrao Fad, Parmeshwar Fad, Prataprao Aapte, R. T. Deshmukh, Shivaji Gutte, Shrihari Munde, Vivek More, Venkatrao Karad and Yashashree Munde have identified as borrowers, guarantors, or mortgage holders in the auction notice.
Online Auction Scheduled:
The online auction is scheduled for January 25, 2024, between 11 AM and 5 PM. Should the mill be liquidated through auction, the consequences could be widespread, potentially impacting not only Munde's political standing but also the livelihoods of the mill's workers and associated farmers.
Political Implications:
Munde, already facing murmurs of marginalization within the BJP, could see her political image tarnished by the mill's financial woes. The auction, if completed, could exacerbate internal tensions within the party, particularly around questions of leadership and financial mismanagement.