Mumbai: After senior Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil’s resignation from the party, 8 to 10 more MLAs and leaders from the party are likely to quit. This would be a big setback to the party after a debacle in Lok Sabha polls. 

Congress leader Abdul Sattar has already quit the party and there are some more MLAs willing to quit. Gopal Agarwal, Jaykumar Gore, Sunil Kedar and Bharat Bhalke are in contact with Vikhe-Patil. These MLA had a meeting with him at his official residence. 

The Congress faced a huge debacle in Lok Sabha polls and this has disturbed the senior leaders of the party. According to the source, the Muslim leaders became confident after MIM candidate Imtiyaz Jaleel won the election from Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) from Aurangabad. 

“The Muslims have been used by the Congress for years as vote bank, but Imtiyaj Jaleel’s victory boosted their confidence. In the upcoming Assembly elections, there is a possibility of many Muslim leaders from Congress joining VBA,” said sources. Referring to the poll outcome in Aurangabad, a former Congress MP said that Muslims have started looking forward to the VBA as a viable alternative to the Congress. 

“Even in Mumbai, the Muslims are trying to contest assembly on their own and they may win at least three seats in Mumbai and on other places they can damage the Congress,” said sources. 

However, VBA leader Prakash Ambedkar claimed that at least 10 legislators of the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) are in touch with VBA in view of the upcoming Assembly elections in Maharashtra, which is scheduled for later this year. 

Ambedkar made this announcement in a press meet at Akola. The VBA has badly damaged the prospects of the Congress-NCP alliance in recently concluded Lok Sabha election on 8 to 10 seats. Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh Chief Prakash Ambedkar formed the VBA by making an alliance with the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) of Asaduddin Owaisi ahead of Lok Sabha elections.