Congress's Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil has quit as Maharashtra Leader of Opposition days after his son joined BJP.

This comes as a major blow to Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha elections and Maharashtra assembly elections due in some months.

Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil on Tuesday handed over his resignation to Congress president Rahul Gandhi on "moral grounds".

Recently, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil's son Sujay Vikhe Patil had defected to join the BJP.

The party chief would decide on his fate, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil has said.

After the setback of his son joining the BJP, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil had squarely blamed NCP supremo Sharad Pawar.

"It is wrong to say that the entire situation in Ahmednagar is because of my son. Since our talk with NCP had started there were talks of exchanging a few seats. We were working towards winning maximum seats.

"And in that context, we wanted Ahmednagar seat. It was disheartening to see a senior leader like Sharad Pawar raking up old issues pertaining to my late father. It was unbecoming of him. Sujay may have taken the decision because of the statements made against his grandfather," Vikhe had said earlier.

Vikhe had also said he would not campaign against his son in Ahmednagar.

A day after Sujay Vikhe Patil joined the BJP, Congress leader and former Maharashtra minister Balasaheb Thorat asked his colleague Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil to make his stand clear on his son joining the BJP.

Sujay Vikhe Patil joined the BJP on March 12.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had said he will suggest the BJP leadership to field Sujay Vikhe Patil, a neurosurgeon by profession, from the Ahmednagar Lok Sabha seat.

Talking to PTI, Thorat had said the Vikhe Patil family has been associated with the Congress for the last five decades and the party has treated its members well.

However, the Vikhe Patils have "betrayed" the Congress at a crucial time, Thorat said.

Thorat said Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil should clarify his stand on his son joining the BJP, the principal political opponent of the Congress.

The former minister said Ahmednagar district is a traditional stronghold of the Congress.