Ahead of civic polls, Congress MLC Pradnya Satav joins BJP

Mumbai: Congress Member of Legislative Council (MLC) Pradnya Satav joined the BJP here on Thursday, hours after submitting her resignation from the Upper House of the Maharashtra legislature.

She joined the BJP in the presence of the ruling party’s Maharashtra chief Ravindra Chavan and Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule.

Satav, the wife of late Rajiv Satav, a Congressman and close confidant of Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, hails from Hingoli district in the state’s Marathwada region. She was first elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Council in 2021.

Her switch in the midst of local body elections is being seen as a setback to the Congress.

After her husband’s death, Satav served as vice president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee. She was renominated to the legislative council in July last year, and her term was to end in 2030.

Earlier in the day, Satav submitted her resignation as an MLC to the legislature secretariat after speaking to Legislative Council Chairman Ram Shinde, sources had said.

Besides Satav, former MLA from Solapur district Dilip Mane also joined the BJP.

Elections to the 29 municipal corporations in the state will take place on January 15, and votes will be counted the next day.