Seer retracts support for Munde after meeting slain sarpanch’s kin

Mumbai: Two days after Namdev Shastri, chief of Bhanwangad – the religious power centre of the Vanjari community, stoked controversy by saying Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and minister Dhananjay Munde had been wrongfully implicated in the Santosh Deshmukh murder case, the mahant (chief religious leader) on Sunday made an about turn, claiming he did not mean to support the accused in the case and the shrine stood by the slain sarpanch’s family firmly.

The development came after the deceased’s brother Dhananjay Deshmukh and daughter Vaibhavi Deshmukh met Shastri on Sunday afternoon, submitted documents related to the accused, and said they expected the mahant to clear his stand on the case.

Santosh Deshmukh, three-time sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed district, was brutally killed on December 9, 2024, allegedly by associates of Walmik Karad, a trusted aide of food and civil supplies minister Dhananjay Munde, for opposing an extortion bid on a wind energy firm. While Karad surrendered before the criminal investigation department (CID) on December 31, opposition leaders cornered the Mahayuti government, repeatedly seeking Munde’s expulsion from the cabinet.

With the Deshmukhs belonging to the Maratha community and Munde a Vanjari, categorised as Other Backward Classes (OBC) in Maharashtra, and the festering conflict over Marathas in the state seeking reservation within the OBC quota, the murder deepened the Maratha-Vanjari divide and led to protests and sporadic violence in some areas.

The Mahayuti government, while promising justice for the slain sarpanch’s family, has shielded Munde several times, with NCP chief and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar even warning party workers in Beed not to indulge in illegal activities with the food and civil supplies minister by his side earlier this month.

On Friday, the mahant of the Bhagwangad shrine, which has a massive following among Vanjaris in Beed and other parts of the state, held a press conference, claiming Munde had been wrongfully portrayed as a criminal and asserting that he was innocent.

The accusation had caused considerable harm to the Vanjari community and exacerbated communal tensions, he said and affirmed that Bhagwangad stood firmly behind the troubled minister.

The remarks sparked a controversy, with opposition leaders and social activists saying the shrine should not be used for making political statements.

When the slain sarpanch’s daughter and brother met the mahant on Friday afternoon, they said Santosh Deshmukh had been killed so brutally and his body dismembered that the family did not even get the full body for his last rites.

“You said he was attacked out of revenge by the accused for being slapped by him,” his daughter Vaibhavi told the mahant during the meeting that was telecast live by several television channels. “You should have spoken about the case after listening to us at least once,” she said.

“Everybody has stood by us during this battle for the justice and it cannot be because of caste. We met Shastriji with all documents related to the accused and expect him to clear his stand about the case,” his brother Dhananjay said during the meeting.

Subsequently, the mahant told reporters that his statement on Friday wrongly interpreted and he did not mean to stand by accused.

“Bhagwan Gad will firmly stand by the Deshmukh family. They showed me the documents against the accused and I can assure them that I did not mean to support the accused,” he said.