Pradnya Satab, 49, a Congress MLC from Maharashtra, joined the ruling BJP on Thursday instantly after submitting his resignation from the Legislative Council, stunning the Congress forward of the state’s essential civic physique elections.
Pradnya was the spouse of late Congress chief Rajiv Satab and a detailed aide of Rahul Gandhi, who was a detailed aide of the Chief of Opposition (LoP) within the Congress. She hails from Hingoli district of Marathwada area.
Her alternative got here as a shock not solely to the Congress but in addition to many within the Bharatiya Janata Occasion. That would cut back the Congress’s variety of seats within the higher home of the state meeting to only six, additional weakening the celebration’s declare to the LoP submit.
“This isn’t simply to harm the Congress numerically within the Legislative Council. Additionally it is an try to focus on Rahul Gandhi. To indicate the world that Rahul is gullible and that even the individuals he trusts can’t be trusted. Moderately, the purpose is to malign Rahul’s picture and create distrust amongst these round him,” a senior Congress chief stated.
The Congress accused the Bharatiya Janata Occasion of “destroying political events with cash and posts” and never respecting democracy.
Rajeev Satab’s Arc
Rajeev Satab rose from nationwide politics to Congress and have become the Nationwide President of the Youth Congress. He was later appointed Gujarat in-charge of the All India Congress Committee (AICC). Underneath his management, the Congress recorded its finest efficiency in a long time within the 2017 Gujarat Meeting elections, with the Bharatiya Janata Occasion narrowly gaining a majority by successful 99 out of 182 seats in opposition to 77 within the Meeting.
Satab, who was thought-about a member of Rahul Gandhi’s inside circle, handed away on the age of 46 through the coronavirus pandemic in 2021.
“Rajeev Satab’s dying saddened me. He was my pal and a great celebration employee. However that wasn’t the one factor that made me unhappy. I used to be unhappy as a result of each time I met him, he talked about you. Rajeev Satab advised me that he It was good to be in my pal’s hometown. Not many leaders can stroll that a lot.” Rahul stated. Gandhi stated this at a rally in Hingoli through the Bharat Pure Land Yatra three years in the past.
Rise of Pradnya Satav
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After Rajeev’s dying, Pradnya Sataf was elected because the vacant Congress MLC on the orders of the celebration excessive command in 2021. He was additionally appointed because the vice-chairman of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee.
In July 2024, the Congress management reappointed Pradnya, who belongs to the OBC group, as MLC for a six-year time period. The celebration then sidelined Islamist chief Wajahat Mirza to make sure his protected passage by way of the Legislative Council.
However Pradnya has did not emerge as a robust Congress face within the Marathwada area amid factionalism and infighting inside the native celebration, which additionally led to former MLA Bhaurao Patil-Goregaonkar’s change to the Bharatiya Janata Occasion a number of months in the past.
The BJP rolled out a pink carpet for Pradnya on the celebration headquarters, the place he joined the celebration within the presence of state celebration president Ravindra Chavan and income minister Chandrashkehar Bawankule. Bawankul assured that he would get a key position to realize his desires within the Bharatiya Janata Occasion.
On this event, Pradnya shunned making any damaging feedback in regards to the Congress and stated, “I took the choice (to hitch the Bharatiya Janata Occasion) to satisfy the dream of my late husband Rajeev Satab. He all the time labored for the event of the constituency and Hingoli. I’ll stick with it his unfinished work.”
Ravindra Chavan stated, “Pradina Satab’s choice to hitch the BJP will not be as a consequence of political causes. She has seen the event work below Prime Minister Narendra Modi within the nation and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in Maharashtra.”
Reflecting related sentiments, Bawankul recalled his lengthy affiliation with Rajeev Satab regardless of belonging to completely different political events. He stated, “Rajeev Satab was all the time targeted on improvement tasks. He was a gentleman politician. Now Pradnya Satab is holding the torch for improvement.”
Some Bharatiya Janata Occasion insiders recommended that the celebration intends to make sure Mr. Pradnya’s “political rehabilitation” and ship him to the Legislative Council. The BJP additionally believes that her entry into the celebration will reaffirm the celebration’s dedication to OBC welfare and social justice within the state.
The BJP camp believes that whereas Pradnya will not be a mass chief, her choice to hitch the US displays the Congress management’s “disillusionment” and “their rising belief within the BJP and Modi management”.
