BJP leader seeks Maharashtra minister's expulsion claiming he backed Cong candidate in LS polls

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: A BJP leader has demanded the expulsion of Maharashtra Minister Abdul Sattar, alleging that he had supported the Congress candidate in the Jalna seat in the recently held Lok Sabha elections.

In a letter to BJP state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Wednesday, the party's Sillod city unit chief Kamlesh Katariya alleged that Shiv Sena leader Sattar and his supporters had helped Congress candidate Kalyan Kale, who defeated former Union Minister Raosaheb Danve by a margin of over one lakh votes in Jalna.

The ruling Mahayuti in Maharashtra comprises the BJP, Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the NCP headed by Deputy CM Ajit Pawar.

Katariya claimed that Sattar, who represents Sillod in the state assembly, had worked against (the BJP candidate) in his segment, which is part of Jalna Lok Sabha constituency.

"The BJP has a voter base in Sillod, and Sattar is trying to finish off the party here. False cases are registered against party workers," he alleged in the letter.

The BJP leader said party workers were disgruntled with Sattar and his followers.

"We have tolerated this for the party's sake till now. A decision should be made, and the minister should be expelled from the Maharashtra cabinet," Katariya wrote.

Earlier, Sattar had claimed he worked for Danve, but "some of his people" backed out as they thought their support would not be returned in the upcoming assembly polls in the Sillod constituency.