Embattled Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde on Sunday fell back on the Mahabharata to claim he cannot be cornered like Abhimanyu as he was ace archer Arjun.
Munde is under attack from the Opposition as well the ruling Mahayuti leaders in connection with the December 9 abduction and murder of Beed sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh.
The police registered a murder case and an extortion case linked to the killing.
Munde's close aide Walmik Karad has been arrested in the extortion case, following which many leaders have demanded his sacking from the Devendra Fadnavis government.
Incidentally, Munde, Nationalist Congress Party MLA from Parli, was not included in the list of guardian ministers announced by the state government on Saturday night, with his home district Beed being given to his party chief and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar.
Speaking at the NCP conclave in Shirdi in Ahilyanagar, Munde slammed some leaders for deliberately targeting him in the sarpanch murder-extortion case.
He was saddened that these leaders included those from the ruling alliance, Munde said. The Mahayuti comprises the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP.
"No matter what, it will be of no use to corner me like Abhimanyu. Because I am not Abhimanyu, I am Arjun. Some leaders from the party (NCP) too are providing false information to Ajitdada, who is standing by me in these difficult times," Munde asserted.
In the Mahabharata, Abhimanyu was killed after his opponents managed to create a chakravyuh, an elaborate battle formation comprising of multiple circles.
Speaking at the conclave, Munde said the killing of Deshmukh was extremely unfortunate and asserted he had been demanding since then that the culprits be hanged.
"Crime has no caste or religion but a community is being deliberately targeted due to this incident," Munde claimed.
The killing, which has hit national headlines and has triggered protests across Maharashtra, has also seen a caste angle added to it since most of the accused are from the Vanjari community, to which Munde also belongs, while Deshmukh was a Maratha.
The two communities have been at loggerheads, especially in Maharashtra's Marathwada region, over quota demands in the past few months.
Munde thanked Pawar for his support and said the latter was being labelled a villain for this.
Munde said he had undertaken several campaigns against the then BJP-Shiv Sena government (of Devendra Fadnavis) between 2014 and 2019.
"Ahead of the oath-taking in November 2019, I had asked Ajitdada to not join as deputy chief minister. He went ahead but I bore the punishment," Munde claimed.
In November 2019, in a surprise move, Pawar joined hands with Fadnavis to form government, which last for just 80 hours. Pawar went back to the NCP, which teamed up with the Congress and (undivided) Shiv Sena to form the MVA dispensation under Uddhav Thackeray.
During the 2024 Lok Sabha poll campaign, Munde said he was told not to go to Baramati to campaign for NCP candidate Sunetra Pawar as it would be a headache for Ajit Pawar.
Sunetra Pawar, the deputy CM's wife, lost to NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar leader and sitting MP Supriya Sule by a considerable margin in the general elections.
"I still went ahead to campaign (in Baramati). I campaigned for the party candidate in Thane and this is the reason why Thane leaders are coming to Beed to target me," he said in an apparent reference to NCP-SP leader Jitendra Awhad.
Munde claimed the social atmosphere in Beed had turned sensitive because of media trial as well as him being trolled on social media since the December 9 murder of sarpanch Deshmukh.
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