‘Time to..’, What Riteish Deshmukh told his Congress MLA brother Amit Deshmukh

Bollywood actor-producer Riteish Deshmukh has told his brother and Congress legislator Amit Deshmukh that "time has come for him to take a decision", amid speculation that he may be joining the just like former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan. Amit has, however, denied any such plans

“Time has come for you to take a decision…Latur has many expectations from you, but Maharahstra too has many expectations," was heard telling his brother as he concluded his speech during the inauguration of a statue of his father and and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh in Latur, Maharashtra.

Riteish broke down remembering his father during the speech. “It has been 12 years since my father passed away," Riteish is heard saying in a choking voice.

Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee President Nana Patole, former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, senior Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat, among others were present on the occasion.

Born on May 26, 1945, in Latur, Vilasrao Deshmukh served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra twice and held ministerial positions in the UPA government under Manmohan Singh's leadership. He died on August 14, 2012.

Riteish, who is will play Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in his directorial next, did not elaborate on what exactly he expects his brother to do. There have been speculations that Amit, a Congress MLA from Latur, might join BJP. The speculation come at a time when many senior Congress leaders from Maharashtra have quit the party recently. While former Chief Minister joined the BJP, another former Congress leader Baba Siddique joined the Ajit Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Milind Deora joined Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena.

Amit Deshmukh, however, said he was not