Katol Ashish Deshmukh meets Rahul Gandhi, joins Congress

NAGPUR: The fortnight after Gandhi Jayanti (October 2), when the then "sidelined" BJP MLA from Katol Ashish Deshmukh sent his resignation to state assembly speaker on October 2, has brought a complete change in his political fortunes. On Wednesday, he formally joined the Congress after meeting party president Rahul Gandhi at his New Delhi residence.
Deshmukh told TOI that he is looking forward to "working hard" for his new party in "any role decided by the high command".

"Rahul JI told me he has a vision for youth leadership across the country and it will benefit the party in the long run," said Deshmukh, hours after joining the party.

Coming from a strong Congress background, with his father Ranjeet being a former cabinet minister and state party chief, Deshmukh regretted joining the BJP. "It was a mistake. But then everyone got fooled by the jumlas and false promises made by BJP. But now everyone has realized that BJP leaders have only been taking people for a ride. The tide is changing and it will reflect strongly in the 2019 polls," said Deshmukh.

When asked about how he will fit into a party that is witnessing infighting, Deshmukh said the high command already has a plan for it. "Rahul JI has formulated a strategy to deal with infighting and various lobbies across the country. You will soon see that everybody will put their differences behind and put up a united front for the 2010 polls," said Deshmukh.