Pankaja Munde takes oath as Maha Minister amid roaring applause

Mumbai, Oct 31: When Pankaja Munde's name was announced during the swearing-in ceremony, a huge applause and cheers erupted at the jam-packed Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Pankaja, the older daughter of Gopinath Munde, the Union Minister who was killed in an accident in June, was one of the nine Ministers who took oath along with Devendra Fadnavis in Maharashtra.

Pankaja, who is seen as the natural heir to her father's political legacy, has been elected for the second time from Parli constituency in Beed district.

The young leader who came at the oath taking ceremony wearing a brown sild Salwar-Kameej drew maximum claps from the attendees. She is among the 14 BJP leaders elected from the eight districts of Marathwada region. After her father, she is considered as the OBC face of the party in the State. She defeated her estranged cousin and NCP MLC Dhananjay Munde with a considerable margin of 25,895 votes.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and leaders from different political parties were present at the event.

Pritam's sister, 32-year-old Dr Pritam Munde, has won the Lok Sabha bypoll from Beed. She won the seat by a victory margin higher than Prime Minister Narendra Modi's in Vadodara in the May national election.

OneIndia News