The BJP city unit on Sunday launched a sharp attack on newly appointed Nagpur City Congress Committee president Prafulla Gudadhe, with party functionary Jitendra (Bunty) Kukde turning Gudadhe's "shut the BJP shop" remark back on the Congress and reminding him that his family's political rise began with the BJP.
Kukde's Press Conference
Addressing a press conference, Kukde said it was the Congress, not the BJP, whose "shops" had been shut across districts. "Under whose state presidency was the Congress's own shop shut?" he asked, referring to the party's poor performance in the 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections.
Kukde said no responsible leader should mock the BJP, a party built over decades through the efforts of crores of workers. Describing Gudadhe as the face of a "leaderless Congress", he alleged that the BJP would expose what he termed the Congress's "double standards" in the coming days.
Gudadhe Family's Political History
Referring to the Gudadhe family's political history, Kukde said Prafulla Gudadhe's father, Vinod Gudadhe Patil, was made a corporator, later an MLA and subsequently a minister by the BJP. He said senior BJP leaders Gangadharrao Fadnavis and Sumatitai Suklikar played a key role in bringing him into politics.
Kukde claimed that after Vinod Gudadhe Patil left the BJP, no member of the family succeeded in winning an MLA seat or holding ministerial office. He said Gudadhe should first study his own family's political history before challenging the party that, according to him, helped establish it.
BJP's Support for OBC Leaders
Rejecting allegations that the BJP had sidelined OBC leaders, Kukde cited the examples of revenue minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, minister of state Dr Pankaj Bhoyar, and MLAs Krishna Khopde, Mohan Mate and MLC Dr Parinay Fuke. He said the party had consistently promoted OBC leadership and was preparing to give Gudadhe his "first political shock" in the forthcoming Legislative Council elections.
Origin of the Exchange
The exchange stems from Gudadhe's swearing-in ceremony on June 6 at Vasantrao Deshpande Hall, where he had said that although his father was Nagpur's first BJP MLA, it was his "responsibility to bring the shutters down on the BJP office".
At a subsequent press conference, Gudadhe rejected Bawankule's criticism of the Congress, pointing out that the BJP had denied Bawankule a ticket in 2019, effectively "shutting his political shop." He alleged that the revenue department under Bawankule was among the most corrupt in the state.
