Beed, March 20 Nationalist Congress Party leader Dhananjay Munde has claimed that some "top leaders" in Maharashtra tried to end his political career during the recent municipal council elections.
While Munde did not name any specific person, sources said he was referring to leaders within his own party.
Speaking at a Gudi Padwa function at Parli Vaijnath, his assembly constituency, on Thursday, the former minister said there was a conspiracy to damage his reputation.
"Top leaders in the state were planning to end my political career during the municipal elections. I was deliberately targeted through a coordinated campaign on social media and electronic media to damage my reputation," Munde said.
However, the people of Parli tehsil showed faith in him and supported the ruling Mahayuti alliance (of which the NCP is a part), Munde said.
Munde had to resign from the Devendra Fadnavis-led government last year after his close associate Walmik Karad was arrested in the Santosh Deshmukh murder case.
Speaking at another event, the NCP MLA said that while setting up a government-run medical college might not be feasible immediately, a state-of-the-art medical facility providing advanced treatment for the poor would be constructed in Parli Vaijnath.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the project will take place within the next three months, he stated.