Dhananjay Munde: Firebrand leader of NCP (AP)
Nagpur, (UNI) Senior NCP (AP) leader Dhananjay Munde who was inducted in the Maharashtra government on Sunday as a Cabinet-rank minister, is known as the firebrand, aggressive, studious and prominent face of OBC from Marathwada in the party.
In just-concluded Assembly election, he has won from the Parli assembly constituency with the second highest number of votes in the state (1,40,000 votes) by defeating his nearest rival Rajebhau Deshmukh. In the 2019 assembly elections, he had defeated his cousin Pankaja Munde.
He is known to be very close to party president and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Earlier, he had served as minister of Agriculture in the Eknath Shinde-led ministry and was minister of Social Justice in the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.
During the period 2014 to 2019, he was the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council.
Munde was instrumental in getting three MLAs of NCP elected from the Beed district.
