Danve to quit union ministry

Union minister of state for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Raosaheb Danve has made it clear that he would be quitting the union cabinet on Thursday.

The decision has been taken owing to the party principal of one person one post. Danve is state BJP president. He said he will resign as Union Minister of State on Thursday and focus on boosting the party apparatus in the state.

“I will resign from the Union ministry tomorrow,” Danve told reporters here. “There is the principle of one person-one post and I will concentrate on party organisation,” he said.

Danve took over as state BJP president after Devendra Fadnavis, under whose leadership the party came to power in the October 15 Assembly polls last year, became the chief minister.

Danve, a fourth-term member of Lok Sabha from Jalna in Marathwada, has come up the ranks after his baptism in politics at the panchayat level.

An under-graduate, he was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 1999. He retained the seat in 2004, 2009 and 2014 polls. He was also twice elected to the Maharashtra Assembly.

Meanwhile, Danve said that the membership drive of the party has generated a huge response in the party and the party membership has exceeded 61 lakh for the first time in the history of the party in the state. The state BJP unit had been working to achieve the target of 1 crore members in the state. The target is to be achieved by the month end, he said.

“The organization arm of the party is working tirelessly to achieve the membership target and we should be able to complete the booth level organization set up by the end of the month,” he said.