Nana Patole interview: ‘None of our MLAs willfully wants to join BJP. It wants to pressure our leaders and drag them’

Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole addresses the charge by some quarters that Ashok Chavan and other departures from the party have happened due to him. Claiming that the Congress’s voter base has not shifted despite its leaders moving to other parties, Patole also asserted that the party will win the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra. Excerpts from an interview:

Why didn’t you try to stop Ashok Chavan from quitting the Congress?

Ashok Chavan was one of the most senior leaders of Maharashtra Congress. He was part of various committees and also headed some of them, including the one on seat-sharing arrangement. On Sunday, he was part of the core committee meeting and did not speak much. Even after that he waited to meet our in-charge. He neither told us nor the leadership about his problem. Had we known the problem, we would have certainly worked hard to stop him.

Are you the reason that he quit the party?

Me? How? Did I stop him from working? Did I omit his name from any committee? Has he complained against me? No. I repeat, he was the senior most leader of our party and was part of every programme. I think one should not spend time on speculation. Let him give the reason. He has not yet given any reason… We do not want to get into whether he was pressured by Central agencies to switch sides.

What will be his role in the BJP?

He has leadership skills. But let me tell you, because I have some experience working with the BJP, he will soon be seen sitting on the third row at a press conference. It was said that (Union Home Minister) Amit Shah would come to induct him into the BJP. But what happened? A two-time Chief Minister was welcomed in the BJP by (Deputy CM Devendra) Fadnavis, (BJP Maharashtra chief