MUMBAI: BJP leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil claimed on Saturday that Maharashtra Congress chief and minister Balasaheb Thorat was contemplating joining the saffron party three years ago.
Vikhe Patil himself quit the Congress before the Assembly elections in the state this year and joined the BJP.
Both he and Thorat hail from Ahmednagar district, and are known to be bitter rivals.
Talking to reporters at Shirdi, Vikhe Patil said, "Thorat was thinking of joining the BJP some three years ago.
"What he has got today (a cabinet post) is by accident. He could not campaign outside his constituency during the Assembly polls," Vikhe Patil claimed.
Thorat, who is now revenue minister in the Shiv Sena- NCP-Congress government, was not available for comment.