Mumbai: Congress legislator Abdul Sattar’s sudden exit from his party and his holding a midnight meeting with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday has brought the split within the Aurangabad Congress unit to the fore. Sattar, an important leader of the Congress in Aurangabad, is reportedly disgruntled, as neither he nor his preferred candidate were considered for the LS seat.
He is likely to contest the LS election as an Independent candidate in Aurangabad. Sattar’s move comes after the Congress decided to field Subhash Zambad from the crucial Aurangabad Lok Sabha constituency. Zambad is the sitting member of the Legislative Council (MLC).
Significantly, the resignation comes on a day, an audio clip of telephonic conversation between Ashok Chavan, the state president of the party and a party worker from Chandrapur was leaked. In the audio, a frustrated Chavan is allegedly heard expressing that he, too, is of a disposition to resign from his post.
Following his resignation, Sattar, the Sillod MLA in Aurangabad district, held a midnight meeting with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Girish Mahajan, triggering speculation of his imminent defection to the saffron fold. Sattar, has, however, refuted rumours of joining the BJP.
“I had neither gone specifically to visit Fadnavis nor to seek his help after quitting the Congress. It’s just that Girish Mahajan’s constituency is adjacent to mine. Hence, Mahajan invited me over and it was a courtesy call,” said Sattar, downplaying the purpose of his midnight meet with Fadnavis.
He further said that he would be meeting Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders Ajit Pawar and Jayant Patil, All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (AIMIM) legislator from Aurangabad, Imtiaz Jaleel, and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) leader Prakash Ambedkar. Sattar, an important leader of the Congress in Aurangabad, is reportedly disgruntled that neither he, nor his preferred candidate, was considered for the crucial Aurangabad LS seat.
