‘I may not be qualified enough’: Pankaja Munde on missing out on Shinde Cabinet berth

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Mumbai,
Aug
11:
Bharatiya
Janata
Party
leader
Pankaja
Munde
on
Thursday
said
she
may
not
have
been
”qualified
enough” to
get
a
berth
in
the
newly
expanded
Maharashtra
cabinet.

Nine
ministers
each
from
Chief
Minister
Eknath
Shinde’s
Shiv
Sena
faction
and
his
ally
BJP
took
oath
during
the
first
expansion
of
the
ministry
earlier
this
week.
But
Shinde
also
received
flak
as
there
was
not
a
single
woman
among
them.

Maharashtra
Cabinet
expansion:
Fadnavis
to
get
Home,
Shinde
to
retain
urban
development

Asked
about
it
by
reporters,
Pankaja,
the
daughter
of
late
BJP
stalwart
Gopinath
Munde,
said,
“I
may
not
be
qualified
enough
to
be
inducted.
“Whoever
is
eligible
according
to
them
will
be
inducted
into
the
cabinet.
I
have
no
stand
about
it.
I
try
to
do
my
politics
by
maintaining
my
pride,”
she
added.
Munde
was
a
cabinet
minister
in
an
earlier
BJP-Sena
government
headed
by
Devendra
Fadnavis.

According
to
reports,
Munde
and
Union
Minister
Narayan
Rane
were
missing
from
the
oath
ceremony.
While
Rane
was
absent
due
to
the
death
of
a
close
relative,
Munde’s
absence,
however,
raised
eyebrows.

Local
media
reports,
citing
Maharashtra
leaders,
however,
cited
that
the
latest
expansion
is
the
first
phase
of
rejig
within
the
Maharashtra
Cabinet
and
further
expansion,
with
the
inclusion
of
women
ministers
is
on
the
cards.