Pankaja Munde said, “I will continue to share the burden of their grief”.
New Delhi:
BJP leader Pankaja Munde was seen weeping at a condolence meeting for four party workers who allegedly died by suicide following her defeat in the recent Lok Sabha election.
“Don’t give up on life,” the BJP leader urged her supporters on Sunday, as she met with the family members of the workers.
“My workers are important to me. Please don’t take such a step, don’t leave your children and family,” she pleaded.
Pankaja Munde was seen weeping copiously at the meeting yesterday at the home of Popatrao Vaibhase, one of the activists who died by suicide. In photos shared on X, she was seen consoling Vaibhase’s family.
“Popatrao was an active worker who devoted himself to every task. Actually, a fighter. But, to leave his family by taking such an extreme decision will weaken me,” she wrote in a post in Marathi. The others who died were Sachin Munde, Pandurang Sonawane and Ganesh Bade.
“I will continue to share the burden of their grief,” she said, adding she would be “taking all the responsibility of their innocent children and families”.
“But this responsibility is painful for me,” said the former Maharashtra minister, who lost the Beed Lok Sabha seat to Bajrang Sonawane of NCP (Sharad Pawar).
माझा कार्यकर्ता स्व.पोपट वायभासे यांच्या कुटुंबियांची आज आष्टी तालुक्यातील चिंचेवाडी येथे सांत्वनपर भेट घेतली. पोपटराव प्रत्येक कार्यात स्वतःला झोकून देणारा सक्रिय कार्यकर्ता…खरतर लढाऊ वृतीचा, पण असा टोकाचा निर्णय घेऊन कुटुंबाला सोडून जाण मला कमकुवत करणार आहे.
आज पोपटराव… pic.twitter.com/fRU2h0RBQG
— Pankaja Gopinath Munde (@Pankajamunde) June 16, 2024
“We are certainly not weak enough to be depressed by a defeat, but this pain is unbearable for me. Don’t give up on your life. If you want a leader who fights with courage, I also want a worker who fights with courage. I don’t want to lose my people. I don’t get discouraged by defeat but such incidents shake me. I am very upset today.”
Ms Munde also met with the family of Ganesh Bade.
आष्टी तालुक्यातील पोपटराव वायभासे यांच्या कुटुंबाच्या सांत्वन भेटीने स्तब्ध असताना शिरूर तालुक्यातील वारणी येथील गणेश बडे याने गळफास घेऊन जीवनयात्रा संपवल्याची धक्कादायक बातमी समजली. या घटना माझ्यासाठी वेदनादायी आहेत. गणेशच्या अंत्यविधीला उपस्थित राहून जड अंत:करणाने श्रद्धांजली… pic.twitter.com/ycB0bbZ9i7
— Pankaja Gopinath Munde (@Pankajamunde) June 16, 2024
In the Lok Sabha polls, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi of Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) won 30 of 48 seats. The BJP won nine seats, a sharp drop from the 23 it won in the 2019 election in the state. Its ally Shiv Sena won seven seats.
