Now BJP raids its own leader

Maharashtra’s political weather has heated up to the extreme this summer. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) department has initiated major action against senior BJP leader Pankaja Munde’s Vaidyanath Sugar Factory in Parli, Beed district, Maharashtra. 

The GST officials reached around 10 am to the factory. The preliminary reports claim it's in connection with the evasion of GST of ₹12 crore. The reports also suggest that Munde's factory may be sealed. GST officials had already served notice to Munde.

However, the GST inspection and raid taken against Pankaja has sparked high discussions in the political circle as the BJP so far was using the central agencies as a tool to threaten only opposition leaders. However, this is the first case wherein the BJP has initiated action against their own politician.

The GST department has seized some documents after raiding the factory. Overall clarity in the matter is yet to be given to Pankaja as well. She is the daughter of late Gopinath Munde, the BJP stalwart who had formed a  grand alliance of six political parties in Maharashtra including the Shiv Sena.

Though the 25-year alliance has come to an end and Gopinath Munde has passed away untimely due to an accident, his legacy is carried forward by his daughter Pankaja. Her father was close to the bigwigs and senior BJP leaders Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani.

Reacting to the whole matter, Pankaja Munde said, “This factory has been closed and locked for the past several days. The factory is in dire financial straits. Due to persistently low production since 2011, severe drought in three years from 2013-15, lack of sugarcane and high debt, the factory is in trouble.”

She did not offer further comments on the action. Munde has a troubled relationship with state deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and the raid comes under persistent rumors that she was quitting the BJP and joining Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena.