Maharashtra : Senior Congress leader and former minister Padmakar Valvi joins BJP

Congress leader and former minister Padmakar Valvi joined the (BJP) on Wednesday, March 13, dealing yet another blow to the grand-old-party. 

BJP's Maharashtra unit President Chandrashekhar Bawankule and party leader were also present on the occasion.

Valvi had Bawankule on March 12 triggering speculation about his switch to the BJP.  The same day Congress Member of Parliament (MP) Rahul Gandhi was in tribal-dominated Nandurbar district as part of his .

“We, the true workers of the Congress, were upset for years. I hoped to receive an opportunity to campaign for the party in the Lok Sabha election. There is no coordination in the management of the Congress organisation," Valvi said after joining the BJP on Wednesday. 

Valvi is a former Congress MLA from Shahada constituency in . Valvi, former sports minister in the state, is one of the prominent faces of the Congress in Nandurbar and

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In 2009, Valvi was was elected to the from Shahada Constituency. He, however, lost the election in 2014. Speculation over that Valvi’s switch to the BJP was has been doing rounds for past two years with Valvi denying.

Valvi's switch comes at a time when both NDA and INDIA bloc parties are discussion seat sharing formula for Maharashtra for the upcoming Lok Sabha Polls 2024.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena is speculated to get 13 seats, while the Ajit Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) will in the arrangement finalised among National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners in Maharashtra for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls 2024.

Maharashtra sends 48 members to Lok Sabha and is considered the most crucial state for the Lok Sabha polls, after Uttar Pradesh, which sends 80 MPs. The state assumes significance