>A day after he shared the dais with a Shiv Sena MP, Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah set the rumour mills churning after reports of a proposed meeting with former Maharashtra minister Rajendra Darda, who has been mentioned in a CBI FIR on the coal scam.
According to sources, Mr. Shah was due to meet Mr. Darda at the offices of a regional newspaper in Aurangabad district, but backed off at the last moment after a battery of journalists reached the meeting venue. The State’s political circles are abuzz with the speculation that Mr. Darda, the Congress’ strongman in Aurangabad and former Minister for School Education and Sports, is all set to join the BJP. Mr. Darda has skipped a number of high-profile party events in Aurangabad in the last few days.
Mr. Darda, who won the Aurangabad East seat for three consecutive terms, was dealt a stunner in the recent Assembly polls after he was defeated by All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) candidate Abdul Gaffar Quadri.
Speaking to reporters, Mr. Shah remained enigmatic about the proposed meeting, merely stating that “he had come to meet reporters.”