Pankaja Munde

Early life

Pankaja was born on 26 July 1979 to Central Cabinet Minister Late Gopinath Munde and Pradnya Munde. She has two younger siblings, Pritam Munde and Yashashari. She completed her graduation and also holds an MBA. She is a niece of late Pramod Mahajan, and a cousin to Rahul Mahajan and Poonam Mahajan. NCP leader Dhananjay Munde leader is also her cousin.

Her father, Gopinath Munde, died of road accident at New Delhi on 3 June 2014.

Political career

Pankaja Munde served as the State President of BJP's youth wing, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), in 2012. She was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra from Parli constituency in 2009. She took oath as Maharashtra Cabinet Minister on 31 October 2014. She was allotted Ministry of Rural Development, Women & Child welfare and Water Conservation.

Before 2014 Maharashtra assembly election, Maharashtra BJP has also announced a two-week "Punha Sangharsh Yatra" planned & led by Pankaja Munde along the lines of a yatra undertaken by Mr Munde in 1995 after which the Shiv Sena-BJP came to power in the state. The 14 days long yatra started on 27 August 2014. Politicians like Amit Shah, Smriti Irani, Rajiv Pratap Rudy have attended this Yatra. Pankaja Munde covered 79 assembly constituencies by doing 600 rallies and 3500 km of road journey.‘Punha Sangharsh Yatra’ got an overwhelming response and supporters of Pankaja Munde want her as Chief Minister of Maharashtra but she never aspired or planned to pitch herself as chief minister.

She said that she just want to play a key role in ensuring the BJP comes to power. During her tour and during the poll campaigns, people are saying she should take her father’s place. People were cheering for her at Amit Shah’s rally too. But she always said that she like to be the king maker, not the king. Purpose of her Yatra was to ensure the state gets a BJP government and a CM.

Pankaja Munde and her panel won sugar mill election to Vaidyanath Sugar Factory in Beed district. The panel led by Pankaja won 18 out of 20 seats whereas the panel led by her cousin and Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Council Dhananjay Munde failed to win any seat.

She is also known for her visionary work as she has completed A memorial of her father & senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde in record time. It has been developed at Parli in Beed district, inaugurated by BJP chief Amit Shah & all the ministers from Maharashtra state on the occasion of the late Union Minister's birth anniversary. A 20-feet tall statue of Gopinath Munde unveiled on this occasion at the memorial, called 'Gopinath Gad', Work to develop the memorial in the premises of the Vaidyanath Cooperative Sugar Mill began after Gopinath Munde's demise in a road accident in Delhi on 3 June last year. The memorial comprises Gopinath Munde's 'samadhi', called Lotus Temple. It is in the shape of a lotus and is 72 feet tall, with an imposing gate. Social activities, drought relief, education scholarship & many such activities have been started to conducting through 'Gopinath Gad' Prathisthan.

In June 2015, the opposition party Indian National Congress accused her of being involved in a scam, alleging that she had flouted norms by clearing the purchase without floating tenders. Munde rejected the accusations of corruption, arguing that a policy forf an online tendering system was not in place when she commissioned the purchase. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also defended her, stating that the norm of inviting e-tenders was introduced by his government in April, two months after Munde cleared the contracts.

Munde clarifies on this news & says that contracts given as per the government norms. Maharashtra minister Munde has got some reprieve as the snack supplied to schools has been found unadulterated and fit for consumption by two government labs.

Personal life

Pankaja married to Amit Palwe. The couple has one son name as Aryaman. She has authored a photobiography of her father, titled Lokneta Gopinath Munde.