Maharashtra: BJP MLA who met Rahul Gandhi over Rafale quits party

Mumbai, Oct 13: Dissident BJP leader Ashish Deshmukh, who resigned as a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly last week, a day after meeting Congress president Rahul Gandhi, has also quit the primary membership of the party.

He quit from the Maharashtra Assembly citing alleged corruption in the Rafale deal as the reason. He alleged that policies of the BJP-led state government had created a "paralysis".

Mr Deshmukh, who represented Katol Assembly constituency in Vidarbha region, sent his resignation letter to BJP president Amit Shah Thursday.

He cited the BJP-led government's "failure" to address issues such as unemployment and the plight of farmers, Dalits and minorities in Maharashtra, particularly in Vidarbha, as the reason for leaving the party.

"I have given up the primary membership of the BJP in order to attract your attention to the issues emerging out of the paralysis caused by the policies of Maharashtra government," Mr Deshmukh said in the letter.

PTI