Maharashtra Congress leader Kripashankar Singh meets BJP's Prasad Lal, fuels speculation

MUMBAI: Several Maharashtra Congress legislators and party leaders are in touch with the state unit of Bharatiya Janata Party, sources told Zee News. 

Former Maharashtra minister and senior Congress leader Kripashankar Singh met Prasad Lad, the Vice-President of Maharashtra BJP unit and a close aide of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. The meeting fuelled speculations of Singh joining the BJP.

Congress received a massive drubbing in the Lok Sabha elections, winning just 52 seats. The party failed to win a single seat in several states, including Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Delhi etc. In Maharashtra, Congress bagged just one seat (Chandrapur), down from two in 2014. Balu alias Suresh Dhanorkar was the party's only saving grace who defeated Union minister and BJP leader Hansraj Ahir.

Maharashtra Congress unit on Thursday held review meetings to take stock of their dismal performance in the recently held Lok Sabha elections. Senior Congress leaders including Ashok Chavan, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Naseem Khan, Manikrao Thackeray attended the meet along with the 27 Lok Sabha candidates at Tilak Bhawan in Mumbai.

Earlier, Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil resigned from the post of Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra. He also met Fadnavis and Water resources Minister Girish Mahajan, fuelling speculations of him joining the BJP. According to news agency PTI, Patil is likely to join the BJP on June 1.