Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, has stated that he will not campaign for NCP candidates in the Lok Sabha elections. He claimed that Sharad Pawar insulted his family. The NCP is a Congress ally and part of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).
Congress leader & Maha LoP Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil: Sharad Pawar made a statement against my father which shows that he has no respect for me or my family. So there is no question of me going to campaign for NCP candidate in Ahmednagar. I won’t campaign for anyone else either. pic.twitter.com/M19hOGosnL
— ANI (@ANI) March 14, 2019
Only days earlier, his son, Sujay Vikhe Patil, had joined the BJP. The Congress party had found it difficult to keep its flock together as many of its leaders are deserting it ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Earlier today, Sonia Gandhi loyalist Tom Vadakkan jumped ship to join the BJP claiming that he couldn’t remain in the Congress party following its statements on the Armed Forces in the aftermath of the airstrikes within Pakistani territory.
Numerous other leaders have quit the party as well. Congress MLA Vallabh Dharaviya from Gujarat had quit Congress and joined BJP on March 11. Prior to him, Congress MLAs from Manvadar, Unjha and Halvad Dhrangadhra had resigned and joined the BJP. In Telangana, 4 Congress MLAs have defected to join the TRS.
