The Congress party’s MLC in Maharashtra, Pradnya Satav, 49, joined the ruling BJP Thursday immediately after submitting her resignation from the Legislative Council, giving a jolt to the Congress ahead of the crucial civic body elections in the state.
Pradnya is the wife of former Congress MP late Rajeev Satav, who had been a close confidant of Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi. She hails from Hingoli district in the Marathwada region.
While her switch stunned the Congress, it also came as a surprise to many in the BJP. It would reduce the Congress’s tally to just six in the Upper House of the state Legislature, further weakening the party’s claim on the LoP post.
“It is not only about harming Congress numerically in the Legislative Council. It is also a bid to target Rahul Gandhi. To show the world that Rahul is gullible and the people whom he trusts are unreliable. It is more about damaging Rahul’s image and make him distrust people around him,” a senior state Congress leader said, claiming that “More aggressive Rahul gets against the BJP brass, more such defections would be orchestrated.”
The Congress accused the BJP of allegedly “breaking parties with money and posts” and not respecting democracy.
Rajeev Satav’s arc
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Rajeev Satav rose in the Congress from state politics, going on to become the Youth Congress national president. He was later appointed as the All India Congress Committee (AICC)’s in-charge of Gujarat. Under his leadership, the Congress registered its best performance in the 2017 Gujarat Assembly elections in recent decades, with the BJP just managing to get a majority by winning 99 of 182 seats as against the Congress’s 77.
Satav, who was considered a member of Rahul Gandhi’s inner circle, passed away during the Covid pandemic in 2021 at the age of 46.
“Rajeev Satav’s demise made me sad. He was my friend and excellent party worker. But that’s not the only reason why I was sad. I was sad because whenever I used to meet him, he used to talk about you. Rajeev Satav used to tell me your stories, not his. I feel good that I am in the hometown of my friend. I am happy that his wife walked with me for the entire day. Not many leaders are able to walk that much. But she did,” Rahul Gandhi had told a gathering in Hingoli during his Bharat Jodo Yatra three years ago.
Pradnya Satav’s rise
After Rajeev’s death, Pradnya Satav was elected as a Congress MLC on a vacant seat at the behest of the party high command in 2021. She was also named the vice-president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee.
In July 2024, the Congress leadership renominated Pradnya, who belongs to the OBC community, as an MLC for a full six-year term. The party had then sidelined its Muslim leader Wajahat Mirza to ensure for her a safe passage to the Legislative Council.
However, Pradnya could not emerge as a strong Congress face in the Marathwada region amid factionalism and infighting within the local party unit, which also led to ex-MLA Bhaurao Patil-Goregaonkar’s switch to the BJP a few months ago.
The BJP rolled out a red carpet for Pradnya at the party headquarters, where she joined the party in the presence of state party president Ravindra Chavan and revenue minister Chandrashkekhar Bawankule, who assured her that she would get a significant role to accomplish her dream in the BJP.
Pradnya refrained from making any adverse comment against the Congress on the occasion, saying “I have taken the decision (to join the BJP) to fulfil the dream of my late husband Rajeev Satav. He always worked for development of his constituency and Hingoli. I will take his incomplete work ahead.”
Ravindra Chavan said, “Pradhyna Satav’s decision to join BJP is not politically driven. She has seen the development work under Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the country and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in Maharashtra.”
Echoing similar sentiments, Bawankule recalled his long association with Rajeev Satav despite belonging to different parties. He said, “Rajeev Satav always focused on development work. He was a gentleman politician. Now, we have Pradnya Satav holding the torch of development.”
Some BJP insiders indicated that the party would ensure “political rehabilitation” of Pradnya and send her to the Legislative Council. The BJP also believes that her induction into its fold would reaffirm the party’s commitment to OBC welfare and social justice in the state.
The BJP camp believes that while Pradnya may not be a mass leader, her decision to cross over to the BJP reflects “disenchantment” among the Congress leaders and “their growing trust in the BJP and Modi’s leadership”.