Maharashtra Food & Civil Supplies Minister Dhananjay Munde of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP submitted his resignation to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday, bringing down the curtain on a controversy after the murder of BJP’s Massajog village sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, which has dogged the Fadnavis government ever since it was sworn in.

Sources said that the decision on Munde’s resignation was taken at a late evening meeting on Monday, March 3, held at the Devagiri bungalow between Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and NCP leader as well as Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.

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However, sources said that the demand made by opposition leaders like Shiv Sena’s Aaditya Thackeray and Sharad Pawar-led NCP MLA from Beed Sandeep Kshirsagar, besides several others, that the CID must submit a revised chargesheet in the Massajog village sarpanch murder case is unlikely to be accepted unless some new evidence involving Munde comes to light, which seems unlikely at the moment. Neither has there been any breakthrough in nabbing accused number 8 Krishna Andhale, who is one of the main accused in the case as per the chargesheet, even after more than 80 days of the murder.

Speaking to the media after Munde’s resignation, Sharad Pawar-led NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad said that accused number 8, Krishna Andhale, is still absconding after more than 80 days because he is not alive, as he has already been murdered. It is also being speculated in political circles that Munde resigned only after he successfully ensured that the investigation was derailed and evidence linking him to the murder was made to disappear, along with accused number 8, Krishna Andhale.

Sources said that it is unlikely that any new names, including Dhananjay Munde’s, would be added to the chargesheet being prepared strictly based on evidence gathered by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) so far, unless some new evidence about Munde comes to light, which seems unlikely at the moment.

Yet, the chargesheet, which has already indicted Dhananjay Munde’s close aide Valmik Karad, the main accused in the case, has been kept open for further investigation under Section 193 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, because accused number 8, Krishna Andhale, is still untraceable. A supplementary chargesheet will be filed if Krishna Andhale, the absconding key accused in the case, is nabbed, sources said.

Earlier, reacting to Dhananjay Munde’s resignation, anti-corruption activist Anjali Damania said, “Why did Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis not dismiss Munde? People like Valmik Karad crush common citizens and these politicians give them VVIP treatment. All of them are involved in this because all the money was going to these politicians. Is there a need to hold meetings to get resignations? To what level has politics degenerated! The Chief Minister says he was not aware, but I received messages from many people. People were not able to sleep after watching photographs and videos of Santosh Deshmukh being killed, which had gone viral. A sensitive person would have felt pain after watching it, but our politicians have no emotions left. They hold meetings, discuss, and decide whether to resign or not. How ridiculous can it get”.

Meanwhile, BJP MLA and Maharashtra’s Minister for Environment and Climate Change Pankaja Munde said that her cousin and Ajit Pawar-led NCP leader Dhananjay Munde should have resigned earlier.

“Dhananjay Munde’s resignation has been accepted and it should be welcomed. This resignation should have been done much earlier. There is no big decision compared to the pain of that family, of life. The decision taken by Dhananjay Munde came late,” Pankaja Munde said.

Maratha reservation quota activist Manoj Jarange and other Maratha groups dismissed it as “insufficient”, insisting that Munde must be made a co-accused in the case and booked for murder.

Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray even called for dissolution of the government, while Congress MLA Nana Patole accused the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti government of shielding the guilty, asking when action would be taken against other ministers facing serious allegations.

Congress worker Saral Patel posted a purported report alleging that the accused in the Massajog village sarpanch’s murder recorded a video of the crime and urinated on the victim’s half-dead body. Patel further alleged that Valmik Karad, the alleged mastermind behind the murder, was a close aide and business partner of Dhananjay Munde.

Reacting to the incident, Sharad Pawar-led NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad told media persons, “You should refer to my previous speeches. When Santosh Deshmukh was counting his final moments, his killers made fun of him. After committing these crimes, they got protection from the government. What will Santosh Deshmukh’s children think? They will have to live with mental suffering for the rest of their lives, which is not fair.”