Party spokesman Nawab Malik said those leaving NCP are either under pressure or due to lust of power.
Exodus from the beleaguered Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) continues unabated. Now the former minister and NCP chief Sharad Pawar loyalist Dilip Sopal from Barshi assembly constituency in Solapur district will soon join Shiv Sena while former MP from Kolhapur Dhananjay Mahadik is set to enter BJP in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 31.
Former minister and son of another Pawar loyalist Padamsinh Patil, Rana Jagjit Singh Patil will soon join BJP. On Monday both Padmasinh Patil and Rana Jagjit Singh Patil were conspicuous by their absence at the party's Shivswarajya Yatra which had gone to his home district Osmanabad.
Further, Maharashtra Legislative Council chairman and Pawar's close confidant Ramraje Nimbalkar from Phaltan tehsil in Satara district is expected to cross over to BJP due to growing tension with the party MP Udayanraje Bhosale.
Party spokesman Nawab Malik said those leaving NCP are either under pressure or due to lust of power. ''BJP is implementing Gujarat model in the state to placate opposition leaders. NCP and Congress together have a 38% vote share in Maharashtra. The party will nominate new faces in the constituencies falling vacant due to the departure of party legislators to the saffron parties. NCP will develop a new leadership,'' he noted.
Already, former minister Madhukar Pichad, his son and party legislator Vaibhav Pichad from Ahmednagar district, legislators Shivendraraje Bhosale from Satara district, Sandeep Naik from Navi Mumbai, party's state women wing chief Chitra Wagh had shifted their loyalty to BJP.
On the other hand, former minister Jaidatta Kshirsagar, NCP's Mumbai unit chief Sachin Ahir, legislator Pandurang Barora from Thane district and party leader Rashmi Bagul from Solapur district have tied 'Shivbandhan' to join Shiv Sena.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Dilip Sopal and Dhananjay Mahadik")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}