Mumbai:

In a setback to BJP Rajya Sabha member Ashok Chavan, his brother-in-law and former MP Bhaskarrao Patil Khatgaonkar on Friday returned to the Congress fold after quitting the saffron party in Maharashtra ahead of the assembly polls.

Bhaskarrao Khatgaonkar, a three-time former Lok Sabha MP from Nanded district, rejoined the Congress, where he had spent several years before switching sides, in the presence of MPCC president Nana Patole and senior leader Amit Deshmukh.

The veteran politician is the brother-in-law of former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, who quit the Congress and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in February this year.

Former MLA Omprakash Pokarna and Bhaskarrao Khatgaonkar’s daughter-in law-Meenal also joined the Congress, a key constituent of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).

Talking to reporters on the occasion, Patole said Bhaskarrao Khatgaonkar, a former state minister, has joined the Congress without any pre-conditions.

“The decision to induct him in the Congress was taken after discussions with the (Nanded) district leadership of the party,” he maintained.

Patole expressed confidence that Bhaskarrao Khatgaonkar’s return will help the Congress do well in the assembly seats in Nanded district, Chavan’s home turf in the Marathwada region, in the upcoming elections which are likely to be held in November.

Bhaskarrao Khatgaonkar said he was happy to be back home and acknowledged the Congress had given him opportunity to serve as an MLA, MP and minister during his decades-long political career.

“For sometime, I had joined another party (BJP), but now I have come back home,” he maintained.

Bhaskarrao Khatgaonkar had joined the BJP in 2014 when the saffron party formed its first government in Maharashtra under the leadership of Devendra Fadnavis.

The former minister asserted he will try his best to ensure the Congress wins maximum seats in the assembly polls and expressed commitment to dedicate himself for strengthening the party organisation at the grassroots level.

Last week, former MLA from Gondia district Gopaldas Agrawal had returned to the Congress after resigning from the BJP which he had joined in 2019.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)