Pune: Veteran Congress leader Sushilkumar Shinde has claimed that he and his daughter MLA Praniti Shinde got an offer to join the BJP, but maintained that he is a Congress loyalist and will not quit the party. The former Union home minister was addressing a gathering in Akkalkot tehsil of Solapur district on Tuesday. The BJP, however, maintained that no such offer was given to the Shinde father-daughter duo.
"Pranititai and I got an offer from BJP. But how is it possible (to switch sides)? I spent my entire life in Congress and how is it possible to go to others' houses. I never got into such a party changing thing," Shinde said. After the event, when reporters asked him who gave him the offer to join the BJP, he refused to divulge the name stating that the person who gave the offer is a "big" man.
"I told that I am a devout Congressman and I will not go anywhere else by leaving Congress," he said. Refuting the claim, BJP state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule told a news channel that no offer to join the BJP was given to Shinde and his daughter.
Meanwhile, BJP minister Chandrakant Patil, who is Solapur's guardian minister, paid a visit to Shinde's residence in Solapur city. Sources said that Patil's visit was aimed at giving him an invitation for an upcoming literary meet. Sushilkumar Shinde had served as the chief minister of Maharashtra in 2003-2004. During the UPA rule, he was the Union power minister and also the home minister. His daughter Praniti is a three-time member of the Maharashtra legislative assembly, elected from Solapur City Central constituency.
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