Maharashtra Congress jolted as senior leader joins BJP

The Maharashtra Congress suffered a rude post-election jolt Monday when senior leader and four-time member of parliament Datta Meghe announced he was quitting to join the Bharatiya Janata Party along with his two sons.

Meghe and his sons - Sagar and Sameer - will join the BJP here July 5 along with their supporters, a party official said.

A four-time legislator in Maharashtra, a four-time Lok Sabha MP and one-time Rajya Sabha member, Meghe has been at the forefront of a movement for creation of a separate state of Vidarbha.

In a statement here Monday afternoon, Meghe said he was "convinced that under the leadership of (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi and (Union Minister) Nitin Gadkari, Maharashtra and Vidarbha region would progress".

"I shall join the BJP without any expectations or any posts, without any conditions and my sons Sagar and Samir shall follow suit," Meghe said.

Sagar Meghe is a former BJP member of legislative council in the state who lost the recent Lok Sabha election from Wardha, while his father Datta Meghe was formerly a close confidant of NCP chief Sharad Pawar before joining the Congress.

A state Congress office-bearer, requesting anonymity, said "we have heard of his resignation" but declined to elaborate.

Meghe said many workers and activists from the Vidarbha region are in touch with him and he would take all those who are voluntarily ready to join the BJP.