Maharashtra's former minister of Rural and Women, Child Development under the Devendra Fadnavis-government, Pankaja Munde, has removed BJP from her twitter profile, fuelling speculation about her future in the party. Munde, the daughter of late senior BJP leader and union minister Gopinath Munde, had earlier in a Facebook post wrote about a "changed political scenario" in Maharashtra.

"Looking at the changed political scenario in state, there is a need to think and decide the way ahead. I need time for some 8-10 days to communicate with myself," Pankaja Munde wrote on Sunday, adding that she had come to terms with her election defeat.

While there has been no official announcement yet, speculation is that Munde likely will join Shiv Sena after a series of tweets congratulating Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray taking over as Maharashtra chief minister.

आदरणीय बाळासाहेबांच्या स्वप्नांना व मराठी माणसाला असलेल्या अपेक्षा आपण पूर्णत्वाकडे घेऊन जाल हीच ईश्वर चरणी प्रार्थना !! @ShivSena @OfficeofUT #UddhavMahaCM @AUThackeray

— Pankaja Gopinath Munde (@Pankajamunde) November 28, 2019

Munde had contested the Parli assembly seat in October's election and lost to her cousin Nationalist Congress Party's Dhananjay Munde by more than 30,000 votes.

ALSO READ | Pankaja Munde not quitting BJP, says Maharashtra party chief Chandrakant Patil

The BJP had contested October elections with the Shiv Sena, emerging as the single-largest party with 105 MLAs, while the latter won 56.

However, the three-decade old alliance broke over power-sharing talks and the Shiv Sena eventually forming the government in alliance with the NCP and the Congress with Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray as chief minister after a dramatic set of events.

First Published:Dec 2, 2019 11:30 AM IST