Senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde, sulking over some decisions taken in his State Maharashtra, on Saturday held discussions with senior party colleagues M. Venkaiah Naidu and Ananth Kumar but party president Nitin Gadkari stayed away from the exercise.
Mr. Gadkari, who also hails from Maharashtra and with whom Mr. Munde is said to have differences, may meet the disgruntled leader here to sort out the issues raised by the latter.
Mr. Gadkari was to have attended the meeting of the central leadership with Mr. Munde here on Saturday. While senior leaders L.K. Advani, Mr. Naidu and Mr. Kumar were in the national capital, Mr. Gadkari was away in Dehra Dun holding a meeting with Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and State Ministers.
‘Positive talks'
After a two-and-half-hour meeting with Mr. Naidu and Mr. Kumar, Mr. Munde indicated that the differences had not been sorted out yet.
“The meetings with senior party leaders will continue tomorrow [on Sunday],” he said.
Mr. Naidu said: “We have held positive and healthy talks with our senior BJP leader from Maharashtra Gopinath Munde. We are hopeful of an amicable solution after meetings with senior BJP leaders Mr. Gadkari and Mr. Advani.” Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly Eknath Khadse and his counterpart in the Legislative Council Pandurang Phundkar were also present at the meeting.
“Although Mr. Munde has no personal problems, the grievances aired by him are those of party workers in the State,” Mr. Naidu said. “Gopinathji is our senior party leader and we do not wish that he nurtures any pain. We will sort out everything by Sunday.”
