Ashish Deshmukh (Source: Facebook/Ashish Deshmukh)
Maharashtra BJP MLA Ashish Deshmukh Tuesday resigned from the state legislative assembly as well as from the primary membership of the party. Deshmukh, who is a staunch supporter of a separate Vidarbha state, is expected to join the Congress as he meets party president Rahul Gandhi this evening, PTI reported.
Deshmukh announced his resignation on his Twitter handle and will formally submit his resignation letter to Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Haribhau Bagde on Wednesday. Deshmukh, who represents Katol constituency in Nagpur district, has been a dissenting voice within BJP from some time as he has accused the BJP-led state government of being ‘anti-farmer’. He also accused the party of indulging in “divisive and vote bank politics”, PTI reported.
सत्य परेशान हो सकता है लेकिन पराजीत नही …
महात्मा गांधीजींच्या या शिकवणीतून प्रेरणा घेत आज मी माझ्या आमदारकीचा राजीनामा देत आहे .
मी माझ्या आमदारकीचा राजीनामा आदरणीय विधानसभा अध्यक्ष श्री.हरिभाऊ बागडे यांच्याकडे सुपूर्द केला आहे .
जय भारत , जय हिंद , जय विदर्भ … pic.twitter.com/SIJTfiB319— Dr Ashish Deshmukh (@ard_office) October 2, 2018
Deshmukh, the son of former Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Ranjeet Deshmukh, has been demanding that Vidarbha is carved out from Maharashtra.
“The situation of farmers and the youth has worsened in the last four years but the government is indulged only in the politics of vote bank for winning elections and dividing the nation,” PTI quoted him as saying.
“As the BJP has been ignoring the people of India, I am tendering my resignation as an MLA and a member of the BJP,” he added.