Veteran BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar
Credit: PTI File Photo
Mumbai: For veteran BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar, who was not included in the new MahaYuti-NDA government, some bigger responsibility awaits him. However, not finding space in the ministry has come as a shocker to him.
Mungantiwar (62), who comes from a RSS background, is a seven-term MLA - twice from Chandrapur and five times from Ballarpur.
“Today there was not much work and hence I skipped the first day of the session,” said Mungantiwar.
“I am not upset,” he said, adding: “I will do whatever work the party assigns me…I do all the work with full sincerity.”
However, he said that the party told him that he would be given a ministerial job. “I was never told that I would not be made a minister,” he said.
Mungantiwar handled the Finance and Planning and Forest portfolio from 2014-19. However, from 2022-24, he was given the Forest portfolio and Cultural Affairs ministry. “Whatever was given to me, I have given my full,” he told a TV channel.
It may be mentioned, Mungantiwar, popularly known as Sudhir Bhau, was asked to contest the Chandrapur Lok Sabha seat, however, he lost. Thereafter, he won the Vidhan Sabha polls.
Asked about the reasons for non-inclusion, he said: “I cannot answer it…the person who has not been included can answer."
Mungantiwar said that neither Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis nor state BJP President Chandrashekar Bawankule gave him any idea that he would not be made minister. "On the contrary, I was told that my name has been sent (to BJP high command)."