Sujay Vikhe Patil, the son of Maharashtra Congress MLA Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday, PTI reported. Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil is the Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly.
Sujay Vikhe Patil joined the party in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and state BJP chief Raosaheb Danve at an event in South Mumbai. The state unit of the BJP has forwarded his name to the central unit to be considered for candidature in the Lok Sabha elections, Fadnavis said, according to ANI.
Patil said at the event that he had taken the decision to join the BJP against his father’s wishes. “I don’t know how much my parents will support this decision, but I will try my best to make my family proud by working under the guidance of BJP,” he said. He said Fadnavis and other BJP MLAs had helped him take the decision.
According to reports, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil had requested the Nationalist Congress Party to leave aside the Ahmednagar Lok Sabha seat for his son. However, the NCP did not agree, according to NDTV. The Congress and the Sharad Pawar-led party are forming an alliance in the state for the upcoming General Elections, and have not yet announced their seat-sharing arrangement.
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