Maharashtra 4 march 2025 (Punjab Khabarnama Bureau): Maharashtra state minister Dhananjay Munde submitted his resignation on Tuesday to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis amid a row over the murder of the sarpanch of Beed.
Dhananjay Munde tendered his resignation to CM Fadnavis at his official residence through his private secretary Prashant Bhamre and officer on special duty Prashant Joshi.
CM Fadnavis announced that Munde had been relieved from his post, as the state minister of food and civil supplies, on the premises of the state legislature. He stated that the resignation had now been submitted to the governor of the state for further processing.
Munde’s resignation comes amidst escalating controversy around his close aide Walmik Karad being named as the mastermind behind the murder of Beed sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh in December 2024.
Dhananjay Munde was not only the MLA of Parli in Beed, but was also Beed district’s guardian minister. Videos and screenshots of the murder found their way online and became viral, inviting more flak regarding the NCP leader’s relations with the accused in the sarpanch’s murder.
NCP leader Dhananjay Munde issued a response in a post on X regarding the murder after submitting his resignation saying, “My firm demand from the very first day has been that the accused in the brutal murder of Santosh Deshmukh from Massajog in Beed district should receive the harshest possible punishment. Seeing the photos that came up yesterday has deeply pained my heart.”
Munde added that the probe into the case was complete, and a judicial inquiry into the matter had also been proposed.
Summary: Maharashtra Minister Dhananjay Munde resigns following a dispute over the murder of a sarpanch, intensifying political tensions in the state.