Setback for Pankaja Munde as cousin Dhananjay's panel wins Parli APMC poll

MUMBAI: In yet another setback for Maharashtra minister Pankaja Munde, a panel fielded by NCP leader and her estranged cousin Dhananjay Munde today won the election for Parli Agricultural Produce Market Committee.

Dhananjay is the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council.

His panel won 14 out of the 18 seats, for which 42 candidates were in the fray.

The Parli APMC was earlier controlled by Pankaja's father, the late BJP stalwart Gopinath Munde for around three decades.

In the elections held in 2010, panel fielded by Pandit Anna Munde, Dhananjay's father and Gopinath Munde's elder brother, emerged the winner.

Dhananjay, who was with the BJP, subsequently joined NCP in 2012.

The NCP win's in the Parli APMC polls comes against the backdrop of municipal council, zilla parishad and panchayat samiti polls, where the party decimated the BJP in areas considered as strongholds of Pankaja, a senior BJP leader in the state.

"The BJP tried to use a lot of money power to win these polls," alleged Dhananjay.

"However, we had the strength of people which resulted in our victory," he said.