Patole to join Rahul in Ahmedabad rally on Dec 11: Congress

Dissident BJP Maharashtra leader Nana Patole, who resigned from the Lok Sabha and quit the party on Friday, will be sharing the stage with Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi during a rally in Ahmedabad on December 11, a Congress leader said.

Congress General Secretary in-charge of Maharashtra Mohan Prakash said he met Patole on Friday and congratulated him for his struggle for the farmers.

"I went to meet him. The Congress party has been raising farmers' issues in Maharashtra. Just now we had six rallies in Maharashtra. There is a morcha (rally) outside state assembly on December 12.

"Even he was fighting on the same issues in the state and resigned keeping all these in mind..I went to congratulate him," Prakash told IANS.

Asked if Patole will also be joining the Congress' stir in Maharashtra, Prakash said: "Not for that, but he himself said that on December 11, he will be joining Rahul Gandhi in a rally in Ahmedabad."

On the possibility of Patole joining Congress, he said: "That would be his decision.. I did not have any such discussion on this matter. I just congratulated him for the struggle he is involved in."

Patole, who has been publicly attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, announced on Friday that he had resigned from the Lok Sabha where he represents Bhandara-Gondiya and quit the party too.

Earlier this week, he had shared limelight with senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha who led a farmers' agitation in Maharashtra's Akola for three days, which ended on Wednesday with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis agreeing to all seven major demands.

--IANS

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