Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde resigns from his post

Food, Civil Supplies, and Consumer Protection Minister of Maharashtra Dhananjay Munde has tendered his resignation to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis after his close aide Walmik Karad was named as an accused in the murder case of a sarpanch in Beed district.Talking to reporters at Vidhan Bhavan, Fadnavis informed that he has accepted  Munde’s resignation and has sent it to Governor C. P. Radhakrishnan for further proceedings.

#WATCH | Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis says, "Maharashtra Minister Dhananjay Munde has tendered his resignation today. I have accepted the resignation and sent it to the Governor for further course of action." https://t.co/S8YYzZxr7D pic.twitter.com/DpxcIUWsrZ

— ANI (@ANI) March 4, 2025

According to a report, NCP chief and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar met Fadnavis on Monday night to talk about the impact of the CID’s chargesheet in the murder case of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh. They also discussed two other cases where Karad is the main accused.Munde is the NCP MLA from Parli in Beed district. The Opposition wanted Munde to step down after Karad was arrested in an extortion case linked to the murder. The Opposition had threatened to disrupt the House proceedings if Munde did not step down.Santosh Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed, was reportedly kidnapped, tortured, and killed on December 9 last year. He was allegedly targeted for trying to stop an extortion attempt against an energy company in the district.
On February 27, the state Crime Investigation Department (CID) filed a chargesheet of over 1,200 pages in a court in Beed district. It covers Deshmukh’s murder and two related cases.  Three cases have been registered at Kej police station in Beed: Deshmukh’s murder, an extortion attempt on Avaada company, and an attack on the company’s security guard. Police have charged the accused under the strict Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). So far, seven people have been arrested and booked under MCOCA, while one accused is still on the run.