BJP state president calls for truce

Bawankule had the two leaders meet a fortnight ago for reconciliation

- Shailesh Gaikwad

MUMBAI: Speculations are rife that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Suresh Dhas and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Dhananjay Munde have buried the hatchet, after the two met recently aided by state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule. Dhas had launched a scathing attack on Munde in connection with the murder of Beed sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh in December.

Deshmukh was kidnapped and murdered when he tried to foil a ₹2 crore extortion bid from a local windmill company allegedly engineered by Beed strong-man Walmik Karad, a close associate of Munde. Over the last two months, since the incident, despite Karad's links with Munde being established, NCP chief Ajit Pawar refused to take action against him.

Now, Bawankule had Dhas and Munde meet a fortnight ago at his Mumbai residence for a reconciliation. The four-and-a-half hour long meeting was kept under wraps but revealed on Friday by both Dhas and Bawankule separately when each spoke to the press in Nanded.

"They met in my presence. Both have differences but no discord. I told them to resolve their disagreements. Dhananjay has worked with me in the BJP in the past. We are a family," Bawankule said, insisting that Dhas was not being pressurised to clear the air with Munde.