"Thankful": Ex Union Minister Suryakanta Patil Quits BJP

Days after the party's poor performance in the Lok Sabha elections, former union minister Suryakanta Patil on Saturday resigned from the primary membership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). ''I have learned a lot in the last 10 years, I am thankful to the party,'' she said after quitting.

Suryakanta Patil, who had joined the BJP in 2014 after she parted ways with the Sharad Pawar led NCP, had sought the party's nomination during the Lok Sabha elections from Hingoli constituency in Marathwada but she failed to get the ticket. She had expressed her displeasure on social media after failing to get the nomination.

During the seat sharing arrangement, the Hingoli seat was left to the Eknath Shinde led Shiv Sena. During the general elections, the BJP had given her the responsibility of poll chief of the Hadgaon Himayatnagar assembly constituency. The Shiv Sena had lost the Hingoli seat to the Uddhav Thackeray led faction.

Suryakanta Patil has represented the Hingoli-Nanded constituency four times as MP and once as MLA. She was the minister of state for rural development and parliamentary affairs during the UPA government.

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