Warring Munde-Gadkari factions call a truce?

The BJP seems to have finally managed to put its house in order in the state, with the warring factions led by Gopinath Munde and Nitin Gadkari burying the hatchet and calling a truce.u00a0According to party sources, a confidential meeting was held between Munde and Gadkari in Delhi a couple of days ago.u00a0

In the closed-door meeting the Munde camp blinked first and agreed to the appointment of BJP leader Vinod Tawde, a Gadkari aide, as the opposition leader of the state legislative council.u00a0Returning the favour, Gadkari faction supported the appointment of Yogesh Gogawale, a Munde aide, as the party's state secretary, apparently with an eye on the upcoming civic body elections in Mumbai and Pune.u00a0

The relationship between BJP veterans ran into rough weather two years ago when Vikas Mathkari, belonging to the Gadkari camp, was made the party's Pune chief, shattering the dream of Gogawale and hurting the ego of his mentor.u00a0

No one from the Munde camp had taken forms for candidature for the upcoming PMC elections because of the ongoing ego clash between the stalwarts, but the problem has been fixed.u00a0Party insiders said, "Once Tawde replaced Pandurang Phundkar, who is close to Munde, the former deputy chief minister demanded the appointment of Gogawale for the post of state secretary. And Gadkari readily accepted his demand."

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Gogawale has, however, said, "I haven't received any such information from senior party leaders. I am not aware of my appointment as a party state secretary so far."u00a0