MUMBAI: Three Shiv Sena MLAs who are supporters of Revenue Minister Narayan Rane, were today inducted into the Congress at a function presided over by Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Prabha Rau.

Ganpatrao Kadam from the Rajapur Assembly seat, Subhash Bane from Sangameshwar and Shankar Kambli from Vengurla have all resigned from their Assembly seats, paving the way for more by-elections.

Kiran Wadivkar, who was earlier with the Shiv Sena, today also formally joined the Congress.

Ms. Rau told reporters that the party had approved their membership and in the by-elections they were likely to be given tickets.

She also said that the former sainiks had chosen the Congress as they identified with its values and its leader, Sonia Gandhi.

When Mr. Rane was expelled from the Sena, about ten MLAs had expressed their support for to him. Since then speculation has been high that they would all join the Congress. The rest of the MLAs are expected to join the party in the coming months.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail