BJP heavyweight Pankaja Munde loses Parli

 In a huge shock for the Bharatiya Janata Party, its Beed strongwoman and minister Pankaja Munde -- for whom both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had campaigned -- lost in Parli to her estranged cousin and Nationalist Congress Party's Leader of Opposition in the Lagislative Council, Dhananjay Munde, on Thursday.

Pankaja is the daughter of the late Union Minister Gopinath Munde and sister of sitting Beed MP Pritam Munde and had contested from the family stronghold of Beed in Marathwada.

Conceding her stunning defeat even before the official declaration of the result, a weeping Munde declared before mediapersons that she "respected the people's verdict" and assured to continue working for them with renewed vigour.

She also appealed to her party activists and supporters to maintain calm and promised to do a soul-searching on her debacle.IANS