Ex-minister Vinayakrao Pati quits NCP (SP), joins Shiv Sena

Thane: NCP (SP) leader and former minister Vinayakrao Patil has quit the Opposition party and joined the ruling Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Patil and former Shiv Sena (UBT) Latur district chief Santosh Somvanshi were inducted into the Shiv Sena at a ceremony held in Thane on Monday.

Welcoming the new entrants, Shinde remarked that the Shiv Sena’s "expansion from Buldhana to Nanded" reflects the growing public trust in his government's developmental agenda.

"Shiv Sena is a party of workers where no one is big or small. Even as a leader, I function as a common worker, maintaining an open-door policy where no appointment is needed to meet me," he said, adding that the party is strictly following the ideals of (Sena founder) Balasaheb Thackeray and Anand Dighe, whom Shinde considers his mentor.

Shinde, whose party is a constituent of the ruling Mahayuti along with the BJP and Sunetra Pawar's NCP, claimed the Sena has reached the number 2 position in the state. He set a target for workers to establish a "Shiv Sainik in every house" and said that nearly 25,000 more workers would join the party fold soon.

On the occasion, the deputy CM also highlighted the Mahayuti government’s welfare initiatives, including the Ladki Bahin scheme, farmer loan waivers, and free higher education for girls.

He slammed the Opposition for attempting to stall these schemes through legal hurdles, asserting that the welfare programs would continue regardless of such challenges.

Patil was elected as an Independent MLA from Ahmedpur in Latur district in 1999 and 2014, and had also served as a Minister of State in the cabinet of then Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. He later joined the BJP and subsequently the NCP (SP) in 2023.

During the 2024 assembly elections, Patil contested on the NCP (SP) ticket from Ahmedpur, but lost to sitting MLA and Cooperation Minister Babasaheb Patil.