Munde's daughter inducted into Maharashtra BJP panel

Pankaja Munde-Palve, daughter of the late union minister and BJP leader Gopinath Munde, was inducted as a member of the party's Maharashtra core committee Thursday.

Making the announcement, state Bharatiya Janata Party president Devendra Fadnavis said she would soon be given an "important responsibility".

"The party decided to take Pankaja in the core committee in place of the late Gopinath Munde," he said.

The eldest of Munde's three daughters, Pankaja is also a BJP legislator from her home constituency Beed. She shot into the limelight after her 64-year old father's sudden death in a road accident in New Delhi June 3.

The party is expected to suggest giving a cabinet berth to Pankaja who hails from a prominent political family in the state and is widely considered as her father's political heir.

Political circles indicate that she may be fielded to contest the Beed Lok Sabha constituency bypoll while another of her family members may be nominated for the Beed assembly constituency in view of the immense popularity the Mundes command in their district.