Veteran Congress leader and former Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on Tuesday created a stir in the Maharashtra political circles, by claiming that the BJP had tried to “poach” him and his MLA-daughter Praniti Shinde recently.
Interacting with a television channel, Shinde — who has been re-nominated by the Congress to contest the Lok Sabha polls from his home constituency of Solapur in western Maharashtra — said that a senior BJP leader of his stature had “approached” his daughter Praniti first and later him with an “offer” to join the principal ruling party in the State and at the Centre.
“The BJP leader concerned approached my daughter Praniti first with an offer to join his party. The same leader, who is of my seniority and stature, made a similar offer to me subsequently to join the BJP. But, both of us bluntly refused,” Shinde said.
A day after he filed nomination to contest the Lok Sabha polls on a Congress ticket, Shinde said: “There is absolutely no question of our leaving the Congress.
We will not be swayed by this kind of allurements of the BJP. We are both committed Congress workers and will continue to remain so till our last breath".
Seventy-seven-year-old Shinde, however, refused to identify the BJP leader who had “approached” him and legislator-daughter Praniti to join the BJP.