Dhananjay Munde: From asset to liability

Senior NCP leader Dhananjay Munde is facing the heat as leaders from the opposition as well as ruling parties are making a series of allegations against him, for his close aide's alleged involvement in the murder of a sarpanch in Beed.

- Shailesh Gaikwad

MUMBAI:

The 49-year-old was initially groomed by his uncle, former deputy chief minister and BJP leader late Gopinath Munde. During Munde's tenure as state deputy chief minister, Dhananjay had kicked up controversies over his high-handedness in Beed, which he used to look after. Following the rise of Gopinath Munde's daughter Pankaja as his heir apparent, an irked Dhananjay started looking for options beyond his uncle.

He was encouraged to stand up to his uncle by a few top leaders in Maharashtra BJP who wanted to keep Munde under control. As he felt that his uncle would not allow him to grow within the party, Dhananjay joined NCP. Keen to build a strong non-Maratha leadership in Marathwada, both Sharad Pawar and his nephew Ajit encouraged Dhananjay. They made him a member of legislative council and later leader of the Opposition in the upper house after the Congress-NCP lost power in 2014. During this tenure, Dhananjay steadily grew as a politician. He managed to take political control of Munde's Parli constituency and won assembly elections in 2019 by defeating Pankaja and in 2024 opposite an NCP (SP) candidate.

He also soon earned the trust of Ajit and became his close aide. After the 2019 assembly election, when Ajit first made the attempt to split NCP, it was Dhananjay who was working the phone to get MLAs on their side. In 2023, when Ajit finally managed to split the NCP, Dhananjay played a key role.