It is for Munde to decide whether he should resign: Ramdas Athawale

Mumbai: Union minister Ramdas Athawale on Saturday said it was for NCP leader Dhananjay Munde to decide whether he should resign from the Maharashtra cabinet. Extortion accused Walmik Karad, Munde's close aide, should be booked for murder, he demanded, talking to reporters here.

Munde, a Nationalist Congress Party leader, is facing heat after Karad was arrested in an extortion case linked to the murder of Massajog sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh in Beed district last month. "Walmik Karad should be booked for murder and not (just) extortion," said the Union minister of state for social justice and empowerment.

"I don't think Dhananjay Munde has anything to do with the murder. He too has demanded that the sarpanch's killers should be hanged. It's up to Munde to decide on his continuation as a minister," said Athawale whose Republican Party of India (A) is part of the BJP-led NDA.