In a dramatic political development, former Congress MLA Rahul Bondre decided against joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after receiving a late-night phone call from Congress leader and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, according to multiple reports. Bondre had been scheduled to join the BJP on Tuesday in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Bondre, a former MLA from the Chikhli Assembly constituency in Buldhana district, had announced his decision to join the BJP after remaining associated with the Congress for several years. His proposed induction was scheduled for September 22. The last-minute intervention came after Maharashtra Congress chief Harshvardhan Sapkal reportedly requested Gandhi to speak to Bondre. Gandhi later spoke to the former MLA over the phone and urged him to reconsider his decision to leave the Congress.
Rahul Gandhi’s Words Made Bondre Stay
During the conversation, Gandhi is reported to have assured Bondre that the Congress would stand by him and provide support in dealing with the political pressure he said he was facing. Bondre reportedly spoke about his recent electoral setbacks during the conversation. Gandhi responded, “To win, you must lose sometimes,” according to reports on the exchange. Bondre then indicated that he would remain with the Congress. In a social media post, he wrote that he was “ready to sacrifice everything in this fight standing with Rahul Gandhi.” The development came just hours before Bondre was expected to formally join the BJP. Earlier, BJP leaders in Buldhana had welcomed his proposed move. BJP MLA Shweta Mahale, who currently represents Chikhli, had also welcomed Bondre’s decision and said he had adopted the party’s Hindutva ideology. Bondre has represented the Chikhli Assembly constituency twice as a Congress MLA. He had also recently announced his decision to leave the Congress and join the BJP, setting the stage for his formal induction in Mumbai. The reversal followed the phone conversation with Gandhi, with reports saying Bondre later dropped the planned BJP entry.
