Agencies | Mumbai:
Former Maharashtra Congress MLA Rahul Bondre, who had announced plans to join the BJP, has decided to remain with the Congress following a late-night phone conversation with Congress leader and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi.
Bondre, who represented the Chikhli Assembly constituency in Buldhana district, was scheduled to formally join the BJP on Tuesday at the party’s Maharashtra headquarters in Mumbai in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and state BJP president Ravindra Chavan.
The plan changed after Bondre spoke to Gandhi on Monday night in a conversation facilitated by Maharashtra Congress chief Harshvardhan Sapkal. A video of the exchange subsequently surfaced online, showing an emotional Bondre speaking with Gandhi.
During the conversation, Gandhi urged Bondre not to leave the Congress. Referring to Bondre’s recent electoral defeats, Gandhi stressed the importance of perseverance and told him that electoral setbacks were part of the political process.
“You cannot win without losing. The foundation of victory is defeat,” Gandhi told Bondre, according to the video.
Gandhi also urged him not to succumb to pressure and assured him of the party’s support.
Bondre, visibly emotional during the conversation, expressed gratitude to Gandhi for personally reaching out to him and pledged to continue his political association with the Congress.
“I stayed with the party because of you, Bhaiya. The fact that you personally called a worker like me gives me the strength to fight again. Even if I lose everything, I will stand by your side in this battle,” Bondre said, according to the video.
Bondre represented Chikhli after winning the 2009 and 2014 Maharashtra Assembly elections. He subsequently lost the constituency to BJP’s Shweta Mahale in the 2019 and 2024 Assembly elections.
In 2019, senior Congress leader Mukul Wasnik had reportedly travelled to Chikhli amid speculation that Bondre was considering leaving the party.
Bondre is also regarded as having an established political network in the constituency, including links with regional cooperative banks and spinning mills.
The episode marks a reversal of Bondre’s publicly announced plan to join the BJP and comes amid continuing political realignments in Maharashtra.
