BJP lawmaker meets Rahul Gandhi, quits over 'corruption' in Rafale deal

Mumbai: A day after he met Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Wardha, BJP lawmaker Ashish Deshmukh on Wednesday resigned from the Maharashtra Assembly, citing alleged corruption in the Rafale deal as the reason.

Deshmukh had on Tuesday announced his decision to quit as MLA and submitted his resignation to the Assembly Speaker on Wednesday.

Deshmukh, who represented the Katol constituency in the Vidrabha region, is likely to join the Congress which he had quit before the assembly polls four years ago, sources close to him said.

In a statement issued Wednesday evening, Deshmukh said schemes such as Make in India, Magnetic Maharashtra (the BJP-led state government's investment summit) and Skill India "showed no results on the ground".

"Also, there is mega corruption in the Rafale deal," he alleged.

On his meeting with Rahul Gandhi Tuesday, Deshmukh said, "Young people have a lot of expectations from him."

Meanwhile, a BJP leader said Deshmukh's resignation may not be accepted immediately as the party wants to avoid a by-poll to the seat ahead of the Winter Session of the state legislature starting next month.