MUMBAI: Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Anil Gote has announced his resignation as member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly as well as from the BJP, alleging that "criminals" were being inducted into the party.
Gote, who represents the Dhule Assembly seat in Maharashtra, said on Monday that he will tender his resignation next week.
Last month, another BJP legislator had resigned as a member of the state Assembly and from the party.
Gote has been opposing induction of some leaders from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) into the BJP.
"I am going to tender my resignation to the Assembly Speaker on November 19, the first day of the state legislature's winter session, and also quit the party," he said.
"Despite my opposition, senior party leaders have been inducting people with criminal background into the BJP ahead of Dhule Municipal Corporation election," Gote said.
If these people get elected, they will "ruin" Dhule city with their corrupt practices, he claimed.
He also said that he will contest the mayoral election in the Dhule civic body next month.
Gote had won the 2009 Assembly election as an Independent and joined the BJP ahead of the 2014 state polls.
He was arrested earlier in connection with the counterfeit stamp paper scam involving kingpin Abdul Karim Telgi, and is now out on bail.
Last month, BJP MLA Ashish Deshmukh, a staunch proponent of separate Vidarbha state, had resigned as member of the Assembly and from the party's primary membership.
He was an MLA from Katol constituency in Nagpur district.