Gopinath Munde's decision to resign from his post at the Bharatiya Janata Party and to be just an ordinary party worker came as a major shock to the party's central leadership.
Munde spoke to rediff.com on why he took such an extreme decision.
Soon after quitting your post from BJP you are in mood to take month-long yatra. What is the reason?
I feel in the past few years, BJP's activities on many issues concerning the common man have reduced. The party has not highlighted problems of the common man and such a stance has affected the BJP's image in a big way. Now, I will meet people in my yatra and understand their views and also explain why I took such a step.
Does it not mean that you are rebelling against the BJP high command?
No, I don't feel that way. I am not challenging the authority of the party leaders.
Why did you take such a drastic step? After Pramod Mahajan you are the face of BJP in Maharashtra and you were once Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister of the state.
I have been thinking of this decision for quite some time now. I highlighted the issues which bothered me. I wanted to restore democratic decision-making in the BJP and therefore I took this step. I did inform senior leaders in Delhi but there was no response from their side, so I had to take this decision.
Did you call Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray before taking this decision?
No, but I informed his son Uddhav. He urged me not to take such a decision as it would harm the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance in the next elections. I was also called on by leaders of other political parties in Maharashtra after I took this decision, but no one from the BJP.
You have mentioned that there are certain leaders in the BJP that are working against you. Can you name them?
I will only say that there are three of them who are against me. They were against me even when Pramod Mahajan was alive. When I was told to discontinue from the post of BJP President in Maharashtra, it was at the last moment. I was quite upset because they did not inform me earlier. In fact, Mahajanji was alive that time and he too felt that it was not the appropriate way to take such a step at such short notice.
Would it be fair to say that after Mahjan passed away, the leaders who were close to him have been sidelined in Maharashtra. In fact, his wife too was not nominated for Rajya Sabha membership from Maharashtra.
I will only say that nobody from the Delhi leadership came to Mumbai or Maharashtra to understand the mood of the party workers here. There was no internal election and all the decisions were taken in a hurry.
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