Former Karnataka MLA Mahima Patel joins JD(U)

Former Karnataka MLA Mahima Patel, son of veteran socialist leader J H Patel, joined the Janata Dal (United) here today in the presence of party's national president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
The development comes a day after the JD(U)'s Kumar faction achieved a crucial victory with the Election Commission rejecting the claim of the rival faction led by former national president Sharad Yadav over the party's name and election symbol.
Patel was inducted into the JD(U) in the presence of Kumar, party's national general secretary K C Tyagi and its state unit president Bashishtha Narayan Singh, among others.

Speaking on the occasion, Patel said he will lead the party in Karnataka and work towards providing it with a "strong base" in the southern state.
Speculations were rife that a decision would be taken at the meeting on the number of seats the party would contest in the upcoming Gujarat Assembly polls, which was ruled for more than a decade by the BJP, a coalition partner in Bihar's ruling combination.
However, Singh told PTI "no decision as such was taken on Gujarat, though it came up for a discussion. We have always maintained that we will fight the Assembly polls in that state. We have done so in the past too, despite our alliance with the BJP. We intend to do the same this time."

"How many seats we will fight in Gujarat will be worked out after the poll-preparedness of prospective candidates is reviewed," he added.