Ashish Deshmukh, a former MLA from the Congress party, is set to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the second time. The official joining ceremony is scheduled to take place in Nagpur on Sunday. Deshmukh will be joining the BJP in the esteemed presence of Devendra Fadnavis, Nitin Gadkari, and Chandrashekhar Bawankule.
Former MLA Ashish Deshmukh has been consistently criticizing the leadership of the Congress party, leading to his suspension from the party. The disciplinary committee of the Congress took action against Deshmukh for making anti-party remarks. With his suspension from the Congress, there was much speculation about which party Deshmukh would join.
Following his suspension from the Congress, Deshmukh established contact with leaders of the BJP. Subsequently, it has been officially confirmed that Ashish Deshmukh will be joining the BJP. The formal induction of Deshmukh into the BJP will take place on Sunday at Naivedhyam Northstar in Koradi. The event will be attended by Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, and BJP state President Chandrashekhar Bawankule. Deshmukh's decision to join the BJP is believed to be a strategic move ahead of the upcoming elections.
Following his entry into the BJP, Deshmukh is expected to run as a BJP candidate in the forthcoming assembly elections. It is likely that Deshmukh will contest from either the Katol or Saoner constituencies.
In 2014, Ashish Deshmukh won the election from Katol constituency on a BJP ticket, defeating his uncle and former home minister, Anil Deshmukh of the NCP. However, Deshmukh faced internal conflicts within the party, which eventually led to his departure from the BJP. Subsequently, he met with senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and joined the Congress party. In 2019, Deshmukh contested against Devendra Fadnavis in the elections.