Sujay Vikhe Patil, son of Maharashtra Congress leader Radhakrishna, joins BJP after NCP refuses to part with Ahmednagar seat

In a major setback for the Congress as the fight for the Lok Sabha election heats up, the son of Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil joined the BJP on Tuesday. Amid reports that the grand old party is lagging behind as it struggles to finalise seat-sharing deals with allies like the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Sujay Vikhe Patil’s defection is likely to hinder the Congress’ efforts to put up an anti-BJP front. Sujay officially joined the BJP on Tuesday, reports said, adding that the senior Congress leader’s son was adamant about contesting the general election from the Ahmednagar seat, a crucial western Maharashtra bastion of the NCP, which had refused to part with the Lok Sabha constituency during the seat-sharing talks with the Congress.

#NewsAlert – Veteran @INCIndia leader’s son dumps @RahulGandhi. @INCMaharashtra’s leader of opposition’s son, Sujay Vikhe, set to join @BJP4India at 1 pm today. #BattleOf2019 #ElectionsWithNews18 | @vinivdvc with more details pic.twitter.com/X7jUngES3c

— News18 (@CNNnews18) March 12, 2019

On Friday, Sujay met Maharashtra minister and BJP leader Girish Mahajan, sparking rumours of him joining the saffron party. He had once said he need not be in the Congress just because of his family connection. Sources in Radhakrishna’s office said Sujay had sought time from Mahajan to discuss technical issues in the post-graduate medical courses entrance exams and the latter had given him an appointment. “Sujay met the minister at his official bungalow in Mumbai after the cabinet meeting. If he plans to join the BJP, will he meet the minister at his official bungalow? NCP hasn’t refused to give the seat to the Congress yet,” the sources had said. Interestingly, Mahajan is the BJP’s pointsman in North Maharashtra and had played a pivotal role in the party’s victories in the Jalgaon, Dhule and Ahmednagar civic elections. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena spokesperson Manisha Kayande took a swipe at Radhakrishna, saying he was sending his son to the BJP to avoid an investigation by the Election Commission. “In the past few years, everyone has seen how Radhakrishna has been ineffective as the Leader of Opposition,” she added. With inputs from agencies