Another big blow for NCP and Congress in Maharashtra ahead of State Election

Mumbai : The Bhartiya Janta Party can be seen in the dominating position in the election hour of Maharashtra with several Congress and NCP leaders switching their loyalties to the BJP. Former Cabinet minister and Congress Senior leader Harshavardhan Patil and NCPs Navi Mumbai strongman Ganesh Naik joined BJP in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Harshavardhan Patil, state minister from 1995 to 2014, represented Indapur Assembly Constituency which is a part of the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency. The Saffron party had been trying to rope Patil as part of its efforts to tackle the Baramati Lok Sabha seat from the Pawar's. Patil's initiation into the BJP is not only going to affect the Maharashtra Congress but also the NCP. It will be a trouble of NCP as NCPs Supriya Sule, daughter of Sharad Pawar is currently holding the seat of Baramati and Patil was unhappy because the NCP had refused to give the Baramati seat to the Congress. Patil is the third big leader after Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil and Abdul Sattar to quit the Congress party after the Lok Sabha debacle. Patil had not joined the BJP with any pre-conditions and would accept any role or responsibility given to him by the party.

Speculations about Ganesh Naik joining the BJP were doing rounds ever since his son Sandeep Naik joined the BJP earlier this year. About a month back, Sandeep had quit NCP and had joined BJP.

With the Assembly elections inching closer, opposition parties are witnessing a huge exodus with their leaders quitting one after the other. According to sources, several other prominent leaders from the opposition parties are also likely to join the BJP in the coming days.