Senior State Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil of the Congress said on Tuesday that he would not quit his post as the Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly, in the wake of his son Sujay joining the BJP.
Talking to mediapersons, Radhakrishna decision taken by his son Sujay was an “individual one” and it had nothing to do with him.
“I have explained my position party president Rahul Gandhi and senior party leaders. The question of my resigning as the leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly does not arise. All the same, I will accept whatever the responsibility that my party leadership vests with me,” Radhakrishna said.
Radhakrishna said his party wanted to contest the Lok Sabha polls on a Congress ticket. “Though Pawar had offered the Ahmednagar seat to my son on a condition that he should contest the polls on an NCP ticket, Sujay was not prepared to contest the polls on the NCP ticket. It is Sujay’s individual call to join the BJP”.
Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena invited Radhakrishna to join its fold. “Since his son has joined the BJP, Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil can now join the Shiv Sena,” Sena MP and party spokesperson Sanjay Raut said.
In a related development, Maharashtra Congress president Ashok Chavan said that Sujay Vikhe-Patil’s decision to join was the result of the politics of “saam, daam, dand, bhed” practised by the BJP.