India, Dec. 18 -- In what is perceived as a blow to the Congress in Marathwada, Pradnya Satav, the widow of senior Congress leader Rajeev Satav and legislative council member, is all set to quit the party and join the BJP on Thursday. Pradnya's defection comes just a year after the party nominated her to the upper house, and she has over four and a half years of her tenure remaining.

Her move also comes as a surprise to the BJP's ally Shiv Sena, as she is seen as the potential BJP candidate in the next assembly polls opposite the Sena's controversial Kalamnuri MLA Sanjay Bangar, who has been at war with the BJP leadership in the district. The Mahayuti parties, after the intra-alliance poaching reached new heights recently, had agreed not...