Solanke decides to quit BJP

Beed, Maharashtra, Aug 12 (UNI) The BJP has received a jolt in the home district of party general secretary Mr Gopinath Munde, with Mr Prakash Solanke deciding to resign from the party.

Solanke, who represents Mjalgaon assembly constitutency, has accused Munde of giving him a raw deal and said following his supporters mounting pressure on him after the zilla parishad and panchayat samiti elections, he had made up his mind to quit the party.

''My supporters had observed how badly I was treated in the party'', Solanke, who has represented the party for two terms in the state assembly, told UNI here today.

On rumours of joining the NCP, Solanke said ''Just wait and watch.'' Solanke had resigned from the Congress in 1997 to join the BJP.

He had successfully contested the 1999 and 2004 assembly elections from Majalgaon. He was reportedly not taken into confidence by the party high command during the March 2007 zilla parishad and panchayat samiti elections.

The BJP accounted for five of the six MLAs in Beed district, of which Suresh Dhas, had left the party last year.

UNI