Under-Fire Munde Says Ready To Resign If Asked By Fadnavis Or Deputy CM Ajit Pawar

Maharashtra cabinet member Dhananjay Munde is facing heat since the kidnapping-murder of Massajog village sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh in Beed, the minister's home district, in December.

Mumbai: Amid opposition call for his resignation over the Beed sarpanch murder case, Maharashtra cabinet member Dhananjay Munde on Wednesday said he is ready to quit if asked by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis or Deputy CM Ajit Pawar.

Munde, a senior member of the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), is facing heat since the kidnapping-murder of Massajog village sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh in Beed, the minister's home district, in December. Munde's close associate Walmik Karad has been arrested in an extortion case linked to the murder.

Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Munde said, "If Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis or Deputy CM Ajit Pawar believe that I am guilty, they should ask for my resignation. I am ready to step down. It is for them to decide whether I am guilty or not. I have been targeted for the past 51 days." The food and civil supplies minister faced renewed call for resignation after social activist Anjali Damania claimed to have submitted "evidence" against him to his party president Ajit Pawar, who has strongly backed his party and cabinet colleague so far.

Munde, however, dismissed the possibility of resigning from the cabinet on moral grounds. "My morality is rooted in my honesty towards my people. I speak with complete sincerity. I do not consider myself morally guilty. If I am guilty, my senior leaders will tell me so," asserted the MLA from Parli in Beed district.

Earlier in the day, NCP (SP) working president Supriya Sule said Munde should resign on moral grounds.

Sarpanch Deshmukh was abducted, tortured and murdered on December 9 for allegedly trying to stop an extortion bid targeting an energy firm in Beed district in central Maharashtra. Police have arrested seven persons in the murder case, while Karad was held in the extortion case and is currently in jail under judicial custody. He has been booked under the anti-organised crime law MCOCA.