Mumbai: Food and civil supplies minister of Maharashtra Dhananjay Munde tendered his resignation to state chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday, a day after photographs and videos of the gruesome murder of Santosh Deshmukh, Sarpanch of the Massajog village in Maharashtra, surfaced. Walmik Karad, one of those arrested for being involved in the murder, is a close aid of Munde, a leader of the Ajit Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
Deshmukh’s murder on December 9, 2024, had sparked off a political crisis in Maharashtra with the Opposition demanding the government’s resignation. Munde was, however, allowed to hold on to his portfolio for nearly three months. Matters came to a head on Monday after photographs and videos of the crime were circulated. On Monday evening, Fadnavis met deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar at the latter’s residence for a meeting that lasted nearly one-and-a-half hours. Munde and other NCP leaders were present there.
The photographs and video clips, captured by the accused themselves, have been appended with the chargesheet submitted in court by the Maharashtra Police’s Crime Investigation Department (CID). Deshmukh was allegedly killed for trying to prevent an extortion bid on an energy company by notorious gangster Sudarshan Ghule, who has also been arrested.
On Tuesday morning, Munde sent in his resignation to Fadnavis who said that it has been accepted and forwarded to the Governor for necessary action.
Munde, meanwhile, posted on ‘X’ that he had quit the state cabinet due to health causes. In the post, written in Marathi, Munde states that he had always demanded punishment for the accused in this case and was extremely saddened on seeing the photographs.
“Investigations in this matter have been completed and the chargesheet has been submitted in court. A judicial inquiry has also been proposed,” Munde further stated.
While Ajit Pawar has said that Munde has quit on ‘grounds of morality’, party colleague Chhagan Bhujbal maintained that the former minister’s role in the crime should also be investigated.
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