If BJP can join hands with PDP, why can't Congress with Shiv Sena: Nana Patole

Congress candidate Nana Patole

Congress leader and Maharashtra MLA Nana Patole said here on Friday that if the BJP can tie-up with the PDP to form government in Jammu and Kashmir, why the Congress and Shiv Sena can't come together in the western state. Maharashtra is currently under President's rule after a stalemate over government formation following the assembly polls last month.

Former BJP MP Nana Patole, who later joined the Congress and defeated the saffron party candidate from Sakoli in the assembly polls, said the Congress had tied up with Shiv Sena after the latter had left the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to join the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

The All India Kisan Congress president said, the Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena will soon form the government in Maharashtra and will provide a stable administration for five years.

In reply to a question on his ministerial ambitions, Patole said, “I am an obedient soldier of the party and it will decide whether to give me a cabinet berth or not.”

In the 2014 general elections, Patole, then representing the BJP, had defeated NCP heavyweight and former union minister Praful Patel from the Bhandara-Gondiya constituency by a huge margin of 1.49 lakh votes.

Patole who is also the AICC observer for Himachal Pradesh said appropriate action would soon be taken against AICC secretary and former minister Sudhir Sharma on a complaint raised by Congress leader Vijay Inder Karan, who lost in the Dharamshala assembly bypoll recently.

Accusing Sharma of "conniving" with the ruling BJP in the state to ensure his defeat, Karan had sought Sharma's "immediate expulsion" from the party and sent a report to the AICC in this regard.