After Deora, speculation rife about more oppn leaders jumping ship

Speculation is growing about more political defections in Maharashtra after Milind Deora's move to Shiv Sena. Big names like Ashok Chavan and Vishwajeet Kadam are being rumored as potential defectors. BJP leaders also claim that members of Shiv Sena and NCP may join ruling alliance.

MUMBAI: After Milind Deora’s move to the Shiv Sena, speculation is rife about more defections from the Congress and other opposition parties. Big names like Ashok Chavan, Vishwajeet Kadam, and Amit and Dhiraj Deshmukh have started doing the rounds again as potential prey for the ruling alliance.

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Deora, who attended a Congress meeting on Friday, kept rubbishing the rumours till Saturday evening. Congress insiders believe that a few more leaders could be on the verge of quitting ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, although the exodus will not be as huge as that witnessed in 2014 and 2019.

BJP leaders claimed that members of the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar NCP too would join the ruling alliance. “After the speaker’s verdict recognising Shinde’s Shiv Sena as the real one, the possibility of a few Sena (UBT) leaders joining the Shinde camp has gone up,” said a top BJP leader. “Our leadership has also been in touch with a few Congress leaders, who have kept the proposal on hold.”

The Congress’ big name from western Maharashtra, Vishwajeet Kadam, is believed to be under pressure to jump ship because of the ED action against his father-in-law Avinash Bhosale, who has been behind bars for 18 months. There is similar conjecture about Amit and Dhiraj Deshmukh being on the way to join the BJP. Ashok Chavan’s name too has been doing the rounds for quite some time. All the leaders have repeatedly denied the rumours.

Former Maharashtra Congress chief Manikrao Thakre said the BJP had been trying to poach Congress leaders through various tactics from threatening to wooing. “Deora’s decision is a shock for us, but leaders like Ashok Chavan, Vishwajeet Kadam and the Deshmukhs will not quit the party,” he said. “These are just rumours. Chavansaheb holds such a high position in the party that his quitting is out of the question.”

CM Eknath Shinde hinted that there would be many more such inductions into his party. “Dashing and bold decisions are sometimes the need of the hour in politics,” he said. “This is just a trailer, the film is yet to come.”