Maharashtra Oppn leader's son joins BJP

Sujay Vikhe Patil, the son of senior Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, joined the BJP here Tuesday, ahead of next month's Lok Sabha polls.

The move follows the Sharad Pawar-led NCP's refusal to leave aside the Ahmedanagar Lok Sabha seat for the neuro suregon son of the Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly.

Sujay Vikhe Patil joined the BJP in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and state party chief Raosaheb Danve at an event held in south Mumbai.

Welcoming him into the BJP-fold, Fadnavis said his party's parliamentary committee will recommend his name for the Ahmednagar Lok Sabha seat.

"When Sujay Vikhe Patil decided to join the BJP, he did not lay down any condition. We in the BJP believe in his capacity, and would recommend his name to BJP's central parliamentary committee," he said.

Dilip Gandhi is BJP's sitting MP from Ahmednagar.

Sujay's grandfather late Balasaheb Vikhe Patil represented the Ahmednagar-North Lok Sabha seat but after the delimitation of constituencies, it was reserved for the Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidate, making it ineligible for the family to contest from there.

As per the current seat-sharing formula between the two opposition parties, the Congress will contest the Shirdi Lok Sabha seat (previously known as Ahmednagar-North), while the NCP will field its candidate in Ahmednagar (previously Ahmednagar-South).

The Congress and NCP lost both the seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Earlier, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil had expressed disappointment over NCP's refusal to exchange the Ahmednagar Lok Sabha seat with the Congress. He is yet to comment on his son joining the BJP.

Sujay said he did not consult his father before joining the BJP.