'Unwell' Pankaja Munde skips regional BJP meet

Aurangabad: Maharashtra BJP leader Pankaja Munde, who is reportedly sulking since her defeat in the October 21 Assembly polls, on Monday remained absent for the party's regional level meeting in Aurangabad.

State BJP president Chandrakant Patil, however, said Pankaja remained absent with a prior permission as she was unwell.

"I have spoken to Pankaja Munde before coming to Aurangabad for the meeting. She is ill. Moreover, preparations are going on for the December 12 rally. She remained absent with a prior permission," Patil told reporters.

The senior BJP leader said he would meet Pankaja in her hometown Parli in Beed district after two days.

Pankaja, daughter of BJP stalwart late Gopinath Munde, had caused a flutter with her social media post on her future political journey in view of the "altered political scenario" in Maharashtra, where the Shiv Sena formed a government with the support of the NCP and Congress after snapping ties with former ally BJP.

Pankaja, a former minister, had also appealed to her supporters to assemble at Gopinathgad--a memorial of her late father---in Beed district on December 12 on the occasion of his birth anniversary.