NCP suffers another setback as 2 MLAs gear up to join Shiv Sena

Former state working president and minister Bhaskar Jadhav will be the latest to join the Sena. Jadhav declared that he will join the Sena on September 13.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is set to get yet another jolt as two of its MLAs from the Konkan region are joining the Shiv Sena.

Seven NCP MLAs and many other senior leaders have joined either the BJP or Shiv Sena in the last few months.(HT PHOTO.)

Former state working president and minister Bhaskar Jadhav will be the latest to join the Sena. Jadhav declared that he will join the Sena on September 13.

Meanwhile, another MLA Avdhut Tatkare is joining Shiv Sena on Monday. Tatkare has resigned from his position on September 5. He represents the Shrivardhan assembly constituency of Raigad district. Seven NCP MLAs have already joined the ruling parties.

“Yes, I am joining Shiv Sena on September 13. I have informed the NCP chief about my decision. Whatever I wanted to say I have written it in my letter to Pawar saheb,” Jadhav said in Ratnagiri.

Jadhav is a four-term MLA and currently represents the Guhagar assembly constituency in Ratnagiri district. He is also former state president of the NCP. He has held many important portfolios as minister of state such as urban development, forests, ports etc in the erstwhile Congress-NCP government.

Jadhav was two term MLA from Chiplun assembly constituency when he left the Shiv Sena in 2004 following his differences with the party leadership. He lost the state assembly elections as an independent candidate held the same year and later joined NCP. Since 2009, he has been representing Guhagar assembly constituency as an NCP MLA.

So far, NCP MLAs namely Vaibhav Pichad, Dilip Sopal, Sandeep Naik, Jaydutt Kshirsagar, Pandurang Barora, Rana Jagjitsinh, Avdhut Tatkare and many other senior leaders have joined either the BJP or Shiv Sena.