Ajit loses one MLA but gains another

Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Saturday admitted suspended Congress MLA from Igatpuri, Hiraman Khosekar, to his party. The move comes at a time when several leaders have been quitting the party eyeing greener pastures

MUMBAI: Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Saturday admitted suspended Congress MLA from Igatpuri, Hiraman Khosekar, to his party. The move comes at a time when several leaders have been quitting the party eyeing greener pastures.

Ajit loses one MLA but gains another

The party’s Buldhana MLA Rajendra Shingne returned to the Sharad Pawar camp on the same day, the latest in a line of senior leaders to have crossed over, including party MLA from Phaltan in Satara district, Deepak Chavan, creating an unease within.

In this backdrop, Ajit Pawar on Saturday held a rally in Igatpuri in Nashik district where he welcomed MLA Hiraman Khosekar, who was suspended from the Congress over suspicion of cross-voting in the legislative council elections last year, to his party. Realising that it was unlikely that the Congress would give him a ticket, Khosekar opted for the Ajit Pawar-led NCP.

However, on a day when the party gained one MLA on Saturday, it lost another, with Shingne, a former minister and MLA from Buldhana, quitting to join the NCP (SP). Shingne joined the party in Mumbai in the presence of Sharad Pawar.