BJP MP Pritam Munde supports wrestlers as sister Pankaja says BJP ‘does not belong to her’

Former Maharashtra minister Pankaja Munde said the BJP did not belong to her; Sister MP Pritam Munde supported wrestlers' protest.

After Haryana BJP MP Brijendra Singh, Maharashtra's BJP leader Pritam Munde has now extended her support to the wrestlers protesting for over a month demanding action against Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. This comes as the official stand of the BJP has been to vouch for the ongoing investigation into the case.

Statements of BJP's Pritam Munde (left) and Pankaja Munde led to speculations that the Munde sisters were probably upset with the BJP.

Pritam Munde said when a woman makes a complaint as serious as this, it should be considered true without a doubt. "It could be any government or any party. I believe that if a movement of this level is going unnoticed, it isn't fair. It should not go unnoticed, necessary attention should be paid to it," Pritam Munde said.

"Even though I am a part of this government, one has to accept that the way we should have communicated with the wrestlers has not happened," Pritam Munde added.

Before Pritam Munde, Haryana BJP MP Brijendra Singh called the protest 'absolutely heartbreaking' as the wrestlers went to immerse their medals in Haridwar's Ganga on Tuesday and were stopped by farmers' union leader Naresh Tikait. "I feel the pain and helplessness of our wrestlers forcing them to the brink of throwing away their lifetime of hardwork- the medals from Olympics, CWGs, Asian Games in the holy Ganga. Absolutely heartbreaking," Brijendra Singh tweeted.

Not all well with the Munde sisters?

While Pritam Munde differed from the party's stand on the wrestlers' protest, her sister Pankaja Munde said she belonged to the BJP but the BJP did not belong to her. Pankaja and Pritam are daughters of former Union minister Gopinath Munde who died in a car accident in 2014. While Pritam Munde did not get a ministry in the Centre, Pankaja was ignored in the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis cabinet triggering speculations of rift between the Munde family and the BJP.