MUMBAI: Rebel Congress MLA Abdul Sattar, who had been trying to join the BJP, finally joined the Shiv Sena on Monday after the fierce opposition he met from the local BJP unit.Sattar, who had resigned as MLA after failing to secure party ticket from the Congress during Lok Sabha polls from Aurangabad constituency, had several meetings with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis since then.
In the latest attempt he had arranged for a grand welcome of CM’s ‘Maha Janadesh yatra’ at Sillode. While the BJP’s local unit successfully prevented him from having a grand welcome, he was successful in securing a place alongside Fadnavis on his campaign vehicle.
However, in spite of public display of closeness with Fadnavis he couldn’t secure a place among the leaders inducted in BJP in presence of national president Amit Shah on Sunday at Solapur.
On Monday, Sattar joined the Shiv Sena in Mumbai. “This is not a sudden act, but Sattar has taken the steps thoughtfully,” Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said at the occasion, while Sattar said that he joined Shiv Sena due to the party’s stand in favor of the farmers.
“I had been active in the legislature as well as outside since past five years over the issues like crop loan waiver, crop insurance etc. The Shiv Sena too had been working on the same issues and they are effective. Hence, I decided to join the party,” Sattar said.
Rane has to wait
Meanwhile, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Narayan Rane and NCP MP Udayan Raje Bhosale’s induction into the BJP appears to have been postponed.While BJP sources had earlier said that the induction will be done in presence of PM Narendra Modi next week, the PM’s schedule shows that he would participate in groundbreaking ceremony of three new metro routes in Mumbai and has no scope for any political programs.While former chief minister, Rane, had already expressed his willingness to merge his Maharashtra Swabhiman Party into the BJP, Bhosale has publically criticized his own party NCP for blocking development works in his constituency during the UPA rule.
No ban on sugarcane
CM Devendra Fadnavis has asserted that the sugarcane crop can’t be banned in Marathwada. He said that sugarcane is a dependable crop, more beneficial than others, so many of the farmers grow sugarcane, despite it consuming large amount of water.