Veteran Congress leader from Maharashtra and former leader of opposition in Legislative Assembly, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, has resigned from his post as the Congress legislator on Tuesday, June 4.
Patil submitted his resignation as a Congress MLA to the Assembly Speaker Haribhau Bagade at his office in Mumbai. He also met the Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday after which he declared his resignation as a member of the lower house. After his meeting with Fadnavis, the speculations are rife that Patil is likely to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
According to the reports, 10 Congress MLA's are supposed to follow Patil and join the saffron party on June 11. It is alleged that Patil has been offered a cabinet position in the upcoming expansion by the BJP.
Patil had earlier resigned as the opposition leader on March and his son, Sujay Vikhe Patil shifted to the BJP even before the recent Lok Sabha elections and won the Ahmednagar parliamentary seat with a margin of 2.81 lakh votes.
According to the reports, Patil left Congress as he was disappointed with the party leadership in the state and its way of functioning. He said that the state leadership is destroying the party in Maharashtra.
Abdul Sattar, another Congress leader who was expelled from the party, said that more leaders are expected to leave the Congress party and join the BJP. "Eight to 10 more leaders will leave the Congress party to join the BJP. They are unhappy with the party leadership," said Sattar, reports ANI.
However, Congress seems confident as they do not expect any other leader to defect to the BJP. Maharashtra State Congress Committee President Ashok Chavan said that there are some disgruntled leaders who had been in touch with Mr Patil, but they are not quitting the party at this point, he said, reports NDTV.
Chavan said that he has spoken to the disgruntled legislators who were unhappy with the party and they have said that they are not quitting the Congress, adds the report.
