Devendra Fadnavis says BJP's top brass to decide on Pankaja Munde's nomination for LS or RS polls

Devendra Fadnavis/ File Photo

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said Bharatiya Janata Party's top brass will decide on whether to nominate leader Pankaja Munde for the Rajya Sabha elections, give a ticket for the Lok Sabha polls or offer another post in the party.

The senior BJP leader said that it was up to the central leadership of the saffron party to decide candidates for the upcoming elections to the Upper House of Parliament, reported news agency PTI.

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Munde, who is presently the BJP Secretary, was a minister in the Maharashtra Cabinet led by Devendra Fadnavis between 2014-19. Pankaja Munde, daughter of the late BJP stalwart Gopinath Munde, lost the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly Elections. The former minister was denied a nomination for the state legislative council when the elections for it were held in June 2022.

Reportedly, BJP's six Rajya Sabha members from Maharashtra are scheduled to retire in April this year and they include Narayan Rane and Prakash Javadekar. Meanwhile, the biennial elections for 56 seats will be held on February 27.

Fadnavis, responding to a query on his meeting with Munde, said, "Pankaja tai is a leader of our party and there should be nothing surprising about a meeting between us. No discussion about Rajya Sabha was held during our meeting. We held political and party-related talks."

According to the PTI report, when asked whether she would be given Rajya Sabha candidature, the former CM said, "Our seniors take a decision about who will go to the Rajya Sabha...Pankaja tai is our (party's) national secretary and whatever decision - be it sending her to the Rajya Sabha or to the Lok Sabha or giving any post to her will be taken by the central leadership. I believe a good decision will be taken."

On July 7 last year, Pankaja Munde said she was planning to take a break for "one or two months" since she was anguished at her integrity being persistently questioned. She had also said her party (BJP) would have to answer if she had merit and asserted only time will tell if she was treated unfairly.