17 January,2024 08:14 PM IST | Pune | mid-day online correspondent
Sushilkumar Shinde. File Pic
Veteran Congress leader Sushilkumar Shinde has claimed that he and his daughter MLA Praniti Shinde got an offer to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), but maintained that he is a Congress loyalist and will not quit the party, reported the PTI.
The former Union home minister was addressing a gathering in Akkalkot tehsil of Solapur district in Maharashtra on Tuesday.
The BJP, however, maintained that no such offer was given to the Shinde father-daughter duo.
"Pranititai and I got an offer from BJP. But how is it possible (to switch sides)? I spent my entire life in Congress and how is it possible to go to others' houses. I never got into such a party changing thing," Sushilkumar Shinde said, according to the PTI.
After the event, when reporters asked him who gave him the offer to join the BJP, he refused to divulge the name stating that the person who gave the offer is a "big" man.
"I told that I am a devout Congressman and I will not go anywhere else by leaving Congress," he said.
Refuting the claim, BJP state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule told a news channel that no offer to join the BJP was given to Sushilkumar Shinde and his daughter, as per the PTI.
Meanwhile, BJP minister Chandrakant Patil, who is Solapur's guardian minister, paid a visit to Sushilkumar Shinde's residence in Solapur city of Maharashtra.
Sources said that Chandrakant Patil's visit was aimed at giving him an invitation for an upcoming literary meet.
Sushilkumar Shinde had served as the chief minister of Maharashtra in 2003-2004. During the UPA rule, he was the Union power minister and also the home minister.
His daughter Praniti is a three-time member of the Maharashtra legislative assembly, elected from Solapur City Central constituency.
Meanwhile, the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar has written to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi stating that he will participate in Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra only if VBA is invited to join the INDIA bloc and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance, reported the PTI.
According to the PTI, Prakash Ambedkar made his position clear in a letter addressed to Rahul Gandhi after the former was invited to join the Yatra, which started from Manipur on Sunday.
Prakash Ambedkar stated the VBA has not been included in the INDIA bloc or the Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra despite repeated communication with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
(with PTI inputs)
