Many BJP MLAs to join Congress before Maharashtra polls, claims Nana Patole

Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole on Friday, 16 August, claimed many BJP MLAs will join his party before the state Assembly elections.

Patole was talking to reporters after the induction of former BJP MP Shishupal Patle into the party.

The Congress leader alleged there is a lot of resentment among the allies of the Mahayuti comprising the BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party headed by Ajit Pawar.

"Many leaders of the BJP and its allies will join the Congress in the coming days," Patole said.

Patle, a former MP from Bhandara, said the BJP has changed and become a party of contractors and traders.

The party does not have a connect with farmers and the working classes, he said.

"The BJP has used central probe agencies to break opposition parties. I joined the Congress to work for people," Patle said.

In the Lok Sabha elections, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) won 30 out of 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state. The Shiv Sena (UBT) had contested 21 seats, followed by Congress at 17 and NCP (SP) at 10.

The ruling Mahayuti coalition could win just 17 of 48 seats, with the BJP's seat tally dropping drastically to nine from 23 in 2019.