NCP (SP) Thane district unit president joins Ajit Pawar faction

In recent years, there have been several cases of NCP (SP) workers moving to other parties. This could cause serious problems for the NCP (SP) in the upcoming corporation elections in the state and in Thane

THANE: The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar)’s Thane district president Suhas Desai and secretary Santosh Nagle on Thursday switched sides and joined the Ajit Pawar faction. The duo was inducted at the NCP office in Thane by Ajit, who stopped there on his way to Murbad.

NCP (SP) Thane district unit president joins Ajit Pawar faction

Desai’s switch was literally overnight—on Wednesday night, he attended a maha aarti at the Tulja Bhavani temple in Thane’s Panch Pakhadi with senior NCP (SP) leader and MLA Jitendra Awhad of whom he has been a strong supporter. Now the new Thane president in the ruling NCP, Desai said he had joined the party “to serve the residents better in the upcoming corporation elections”.

Addressing the media, Ajit Pawar said, “While engaging in social work and politics, one should not consider caste, religion or personal relations. When we invoke the names of Shivaji, Shahu Maharaj, Jyotirao Phule and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, our actions should reflect their principles.”

Anand Paranjape, chief spokesperson of NCP, said, “We are happy to induct Suhas Desai into our party. The NCP Sharad Pawar group is being deserted by the day and will soon be limited to only Kalwa and Mumbra.” Paranjape himself is an NCP (SP) member who defected to the Ajit Pawar faction.

In recent years, there have been several cases of NCP (SP) workers moving to other parties, including Paranjape and Najib Mulla. This could cause serious problems for the NCP (SP) in the upcoming corporation elections in the state and in Thane.

On Tuesday as well, several leaders and workers from the NCP (SP) in Thane joined the Shiv Sena in the presence of deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde. The ceremony took place at Anandashram in Thane. The new members included Vikram Khamkar, NCP (SP) Thane city president Prafull Kamble and his associates Peter D’Souza, Vilas Patil, Abhishek Kusalkar, and Sunil Kurade, among others.