Pankaja has done wrong by selling Vaidyanath sugar mill, says its ex-VC; warns of agitation

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Oct 14 (PTI) A former vice-chairman of the Vaidyanath Cooperative Sugar Factory in Maharashtra's Beed on Tuesday hit out at its chairperson and BJP minister Pankaja Munde for selling the sugar mill, and warned of an agitation to demand cancellation of the sale.

Talking to reporters, Fulchand Karad, the founder-director of the sugar factory, alleged that the entity belonged to local farmers and Munde had "done wrong" by selling it. He also said it was sold without the due process.

Karad was once a political opponent of former Union minister late Gopinath Munde, but joined the BJP in 2014. He is the founder-director of the sugar mill.

On Monday, Krantikari Shetkari Sanghatana, a farmers' organisation, said the sugar factory was sold to a private entity with the approval of Pankaja Munde, without informing the shareholders and member farmers. The mill was sold for Rs 132 crore, and the sale deed was registered in August 2025, the organisation said.

Karad said, "Action should be taken against the director, its board members first and also the officials of the revenue department. We will not let them sell the factory and we will call for an agitation to cancel the transaction. I will go to court if needed." "During the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government, Gopinath Munde took me and Pramod Mahajan to Delhi and got the sanctions for the factory. While Munde was its chairman, I was the vice-chairman. Munde did not set up the sugar factory to sell it off," he said.

Pankaja Munde had no right to sell the sugar factory. Both she and Dhananjay Munde came together and conducted the elections (of the directorial board) unopposed, Karad said.

"I have been a director of the sugar factory since its foundation. But (during the last elections of the sugar mill), I was pressured by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule and others at that time (to withdraw my nomination for director's post). So I had to back out in the last five minutes," he said.

Karad said he later came to know that since they were going to sell the factory, he was not included on the board of directors.

"Had I filed my nomination, I would have won. If a single director opposes the sale of the sugar factory, it could not have been sold. I would have not let them sell the factory. So they did not let me be part of the board," he alleged.

He also accused Pankaja Munde of being responsible for the downward trend of the factory.

She ignored the factory after the death of her father Gopinath Munde, he alleged.

The resolution about selling the sugar mill was passed quietly, Karad claimed.

"They did not hold the annual general body meeting this year as it happens every year...What Pankaja Munde did is absolutely wrong," he said. PTI AW NP