Pune, Feb 19: Balasaheb Vikhe Patil, who recently left Shiv Sena to rejoin Congress, on Thursday attributed his decision to a realisation that regional parties have no future. Denying that his move to come again into Congress fold was unusual, Patil told reporters here that he took the step as he felt it was the right thing to do at the given moment of time since the results of four assembly polls have proved the bleak future of regional parties.

Vikhe Patil, a doyen of the cooperative movement, formally announced his decision to Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday, giving a jolt to Sena.

He said he wanted to spend his sunset years in Congress-- the party in which he had started his political career. Vikhe Patil had joined Sena ahead of the 1998 Lok Sabha elections after alleging that he was given a raw deal by Congress despite his long years of experience.

Asked about his son Radhakrishna who is an MLA in Shiv Sena, Vikhe Patil said: "I cannot force him to toe my line. He is an individual, free to decide what he wants." Bureau Report