Mumbai: Why did Nana Patole defect to Congress? MLA Ram Kadam has the answers

Ram Kadam at mid-day's Bandra office on Thursday. Pic/Rane Ashish

Even as rebel BJP MP Nana Patole has quit the party and joined Congress, BJP MLA Ram Kadam has claimed that he switched parties as he was aware that he would not be given a ticket for the next parliamentary elections. "Patole has lost his connect with ground workers and party cadre. Knowing that he won't be given a BJP ticket for the next parliamentary elections, he resigned as MP and joined Congress," Kadam said during his visit to mid-day office on Thursday.

Also read: BJP workers miffed with rebel candidates

In 2014, Patole was elected from the Bhandara-Gondiya parliamentary constituency. He recently resigned following his differences with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Patole had blamed the Centre for its "poor handling of the agrarian crisis". After his induction, the rebel MP said it was "ghar vaapsi" for him. Patole was a Congressman, and had quit the party after some issues and joined the BJP.

Besides taking a dig at Patole, Kadam even took potshots at alliance partner Shiv Sena. Asked whether Sena would quit the government if Narayan Rane was inducted, Kadam said Rane was a stalwart political leader and his support to the BJP would help the party in increasing its strength. "For three years, the Sena has been talking of quitting... Those who make noise never taken any concrete action," he added.

Sena on several occasions has slammed Modi, BJP national president Amit Shah and even Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray had even made a public statement that he would, at the right time, decide whether to stay with the BJP or not. However, Kadam reiterated that the BJP government would complete its five-year term in Maharashtra irrespective of whether Sena remained a part of it.

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