NCP faces exodus as leaders join Sena, Congress ahead of polls

Mumbai: The NCP is witnessing an exodus before the zilla parishad and municipal corporation polls. Many of its leaders have joined the Shiv Sena and Congress in the last few days, expressing displeasure over the functioning of the party. On Tuesday, former minister and NCP leader from Beed, Badamrao Pandit, joined the Shiv Sena in the presence of Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray. On Monday, the leader of the opposition from the NCP’s Thane municipal corporation Sanjay Bhoir had joined the Shiv Sena.

Uddhav welcomed the NCP leaders into the Sena’s fold and expressed confidence that the party would gain strength. “We had led a protest for farmers in Beed. We welcome the new leaders and expect them to work for the farmers,” Uddhav said. Mr Pandit, after joining the Sena, said that he had felt suffocated in the NCP and hence decided to quit. Sources said that Mr Pandit was not happy with his counterpart and NCP MLC Amarsinh Pandit, who had been given a prominent position in the party.

Earlier, another senior NCP leader and corporator Devraj Bhoir, along with his son Sanjay and wife Usha, had joined the Sena. Mr Bhoir is a six-times corporator and Sanjay is the leader of the opposition in the Thane corporation. In another big jolt to the NCP in Thane, senior NCP corporator Niyaz Vanu, too, joined the Congress.

Apart from the exodus, the party is mired in internal bickering between the state chief Sunil Tatkare and his brother Anil Tatkare. Anil Tatkare has been allegedly recommending his children and relatives for various posts in the government. His son Avdhoot is an MLA and his other son, Sandeep, who did not get an NCP ticket during the local body polls last year, joined the Shiv Sena. NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said, “Workers change parties during the election period. There is nothing new in this. The Beed leaders joined other parties because of local issues.”