Seeking to allay concerns in the BJP rank and file over induction of turncoats from Opposition parties ahead of the assembly polls, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said the new entrants who will get tickets forms a minuscule percentage in his party.
He also took a dig at former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan of the Congress who had said that Fadnavis was talking like a "political astrologer" by predicting that Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) might land Leader of Opposition's post in the Legislative Assembly after elections.
"There was no need of an astrologer to predict the bleak future of the Congress and NCP, even the common man has realised it," the CM told reporters in Latur district as a part of his 'Mahajanadesh Yatra'.
Fadnavis, the BJP's face for the polls, had launched the mass outreach programme on August 1. The second leg of the yatra will conclude in Solapur tonight in the presence of Union Home Minister and BJP president Amit Shah.
Responding to a query on the future of BJP loyalists in view of the newcomers crowding the saffron party, Fadnavis said, "We have inducted four-five leaders so far who need to be given ticket in the Assembly elections among all those who have joined. The original strength of BJP leaders which is around 98 per cent is as it is".
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The VBA was formed by Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh (BBM) leader Prakash Ambedkar and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi ahead of the Lok Sabha polls held earlier this year.
Thought the front managed to win just one of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state, it nibbled away at the prospective votes of the Congress and NCP, which helped the cause of the BJP. The Congress and NCP had labelled the VBA as the "B team of the BJP".
Several leaders from the opposition Congress and NCP have joined either the BJP or the Sena in the recent weeks.
According to BJP sources, NCP MLA Rana Jagjitsinh Patil and Satara MP Udayanraje Bhosale would be joining the party soon, a development that is viewed as a big setback for the Sharad Pawar-led party.
Former Maharashtra chief minister Narayan Rane, who heads 'Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksh after quitting the Congress, had announced that he would be joining the BJP.
Congress MLA Jaykumar Gore, who had resigned last week, is also likely to join the BJP.
The Maharashtra Assembly polls are due in October.
Earlier, Congress MLAs Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil and Kalidas Kolambkar had joined the BJP.
Meanwhile, Fadnavis also said the state government was planning to divert 167 TMC water (from various reservoirs in the state) to the Godavari basin.
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