In what can be seen fresh crisis trouble for Congress in Maharashtra, its MLA from Wadala assembly constituency of Mumbai, Kalidas Kolambkar, on Monday resigned from the primary membership of the party and from the Assembly. Kolambkar, seven-time MLA, will join the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) later in the week.
The news agency ANI reported that Kolambkar is likely to join the saffron party on Wednesday. Kalidas Kolambkar is considered as one of the close aides of Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Narayan Rane.
Kalidas Kolambkar, one of the senior Congress leaders, is a seven-time legislator. Before joining the grand old party, he was associated with Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena.
Congress Maharashtra MLA, Kalidas Kolambkar resigns from the party and the post of MLA. He will join BJP on 31st July. (file pic) pic.twitter.com/cepJXQ0zek
— ANI (@ANI) July 29, 2019
He was expected to jump ship after Maharashtra Leader of Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil quit the party. He was expected to make a shift since the national polls 2019. He had earlier in the year, in March, removed party’s board from his residence and instead put a board of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
He had also attended a poll rally of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in April this year and announced openly to quit the Congress.
He had said, as quoted by ANI, ‘I am angry with Congress as no work has been done in my constituency. I have come here to hear their speeches and will only support those are working’.
The jolt come at a time when the grand old party, Congress, in the state is making efforts to revive itself after facing a humiliating defeat in the recently held national polls. In the state that sends 48 MPs to the Lok Sabha Polls, NCP-Congress could only bag 5 Lok Sabha Seats with NCP winning 4 seats while one seat won by the Indian National Congress.
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