Stormy clouds are looming over the Congress in Maharashtra in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, as one more party leader has expressed his intention to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday.

Congress president of Satara district in the agriculturally-prosperous western Maharashtra region, Ranjitsinh Naik Nimbalkar, is all set join the BJP in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at a public event. In the coming days, more defections are likely in the grand old party of India.

More defections

Maharashtra will go to polls in four phases for its 48 parliamentary seats.

Nimbalkar is not the only leader who has changed sides and shocked the Congress party in Maharashtra. In a recent development, Congress MLA from Aurangabad Abdul Sattar met Fadnavis and Maharashtra’s Cabinet Minister Girish Mahajan, and discussed his plans of quitting the Congress in the upcoming polls. According to sources, Sattar is inclined to join BJP in the coming days.

To add more uncertainty, Congress party leader and seasoned Municipal Councillor from Ghatkopar in Mumbai, Pravin Chheda, joined the BJP in presence of the Maharashtra Chief Minister on March 22.

Another senior Congress leader, Kalidas Kolambkar, a close associate of former chief minister Narayan Rane is also expected to join the BJP this month. Kolambkar, the five-time MLA from Wadala in Mumbai, is known for his “public posturing”.

On Saturday an unverified audio clip of State Congress chief and MP Ashok Chavan was circulated in media circles, in which he was heard saying that he was thinking of resigning from the party. This came as a massive shock to the party men.

The coming days are likely to reveal growing resentment and fissures among the party workers and various sub grounds within the party in Maharashtra.

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