Vikhe Patil quits as Congress MLA

Pic courtesy/Twitter/ANI

Senior Congress leader in Maharashtra and former leader of opposition in Legislative Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil Tuesday submitted his resignation as a member of the Lower House. The development comes amid reports that he will be joining the BJP along with some Congress MLAs and may be inducted in the Devendra Fadnavis-led state ministry.

Vikhe Patil's son Sujay Vikhe Patil had switched to BJP from Congress before Lok Sabha Polls. He won with a margin of 2.81 lakh votes from Ahmednagar Lok Sabha constituency. Vikhe Patil had quit as Leader of Opposition in March, days after his son joined the BJP. The Congress leader submitted his resignation as an MLA to Assembly Speaker Haribhau Bagade at his office here, an official said.

Days after frustrated Opposition leader in the Assembly, Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil resigned from the post, the Congress high command has accepted his resignation. Vikhe-Patil quit the post after his son Sujay was denied a Lok Sabha ticket from Ahmednagar. Subsequently, he switched to the BJP in March and is contesting the polls as the ruling party candidate against an NCP candidate.

"Vikhe Patil offered to resign from the post and had also sent a letter to the Congress president. The letter has been accepted by him," said State Congress president Ashok Chavan. Vikhe-Patil stayed away from the Congress party's campaign, but canvassed openly for his son. He was seen at local BJP offices and shared the dais with the ruling party leaders while seeking votes for his son. Congress leaders have demanded his sacking for anti-party activities, but the disciplinary action is still awaited.

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