More NCP leaders move to BJP, Sena

The exodus from the Sharad Pawar-led NCP continues and two big leaders are set to join the ruling saffron alliance of Maharashtra.

Senior NCP leader and former state excise minister Ganesh Naik will join the BJP, while former minister of state for urban development and ex-NCP state unit president, Bhaskar Jadhav will join the Shiv Sena.

At an event in Navi Mumbai on Wednesday, Naik will switch over to BJP in presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and state BJP president and revenue minister Chandrakant Patil.

Along with Naik, 60 NCP corporators of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation will also join BJP. On Friday, Jadhav will visit Matoshree and meet Shiv Sena president and join the party.

These two developments could possibly change the political equations in the coastal Konkan region. While Naik is a strongman from the satellite township of Navi Mumbai and wields influence in Raigad district, Jadhav is a heavyweight from Ratnagiri district.