Maharashtra minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil gives Ashok Chavan 'open offer' to join BJP

MUMBAI: Former Congress leader and state revenue minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, who is now with the BJP, on Thursday gave an open offer to former chief minister Ashok Chavan to join the BJP, saying his future in the Congress was bleak.
Vikhe Patil confirmed to TOI that he has given Chavan an open offer. "I have not spoken to Chavan, it's my open offer. In my opinion, a high-profile leader like Ashok Chavan has no future in the Congress, which is on the verge of collapse.In the recent past, most top Congress leaders have quit the party," he said.
Ashok Chavan reacted sharply to Vikhe Patil's proposal, saying it was an attempt to create confusion in Congress. "I thank him for his best wishes, but I wonder if he is my friend or enemy. It's not so simple,'' Chavan said.
Vikhe Patil pointed out that for the two-and-a-half years that the Maha Vikas Aghadi was in office, there was complete mess in Maharashtra and governance was missing at all levels, with the constituents of MVA blaming each other. "Senior Congress leaders were blaming NCP for the downfall of the Congress. Prominent leaders like Ashok Chavan were ignored for obvious political reasons," Patil said.
Prior to 2019, Vikhe Patil was leader of opposition. In the 2019 LS elections, when Vikhe's son Sujay sought nomination from Congress for the Ahmednagar LS seat, NCP refused to accept the proposal, following which he quit Congress and joined BJP. Sujay was elected to LS from Ahmednagar as a BJP nominee. Later, Vikhe Patil quit the Congress and joined the BJP.
When the confidence motion for the government led by Eknath Shinde was taken up, 11 Congress legislators were conspicuous by their absence. One of them was Ashok Chavan. There was a demand for a probe, and AICC did conduct one, but its outcome is not known. Earlier too, Ashok Chavan had scotched speculation about him joining BJP, saying, "I am a born Congressman, and I will remain a Congressman all my life."