Top brass will take call on Vikhe-Patil: Ashok Chavan

The Asian Age.  | Sonu Shrivastava

Metros, Mumbai

Congress state president Ashok Chavan said Mr Vikhe-Patil did not campaign for the party and did not work for it.

Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil

Mumbai; The Congress high command will take a final call on the action against senior leader and Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, as the latter did not campaign for the party in the general election despite being made the star campaigner.

Congress state president Ashok Chavan said Mr Vikhe-Patil did not campaign for the party and did not work for it. The party high command has been apprised of these issues. Rahul Gandhi is fully aware and will take appropriate action at the right time.

Mr Vikhe-Patil’s son Dr Sujay joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on March 12 and was fielded from the Ahmednagar Lok Sabha constituency by the BJP.

When asked about the change of guard in the Mumbai Congress in the run-up to the general election, Mr Chavan said that it was certainly going to benefit the party. There were complaints pertaining to the then Mumbai Congress president Sanjay Nirupam. As he could not go into whether the complaints were wrong or right, Mr Gandhi took the decision to change the city chief thinking that if it helped party leaders work together, it would be better.

Asked how many seats the Congress hoped to win under the leadership of Milind Deora, Mr Chavan said they were hopeful of performing better.

Asked about industrialists like Mukesh Ambani supporting Mr Deora, Mr Chavan said that the industrialists wanted good governance.

The government’s stand and policy should be supportive to business. He said they wanted to continue business in the country and help it grow.

As Mr Ambani had supported the Congress candidate in south Mumbai, the possibility of its impact on the business community could not be ruled out.

Asked about the impact of MNS chief Raj Thackeray’s campaign in Nanded, he said that his campaign was against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He was exposing the difference between what Mr Modi said and what he did.

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