Mumbai, Februrary 13: The Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) continues to lose leaders as political bigwigs desert the party ahead of the 2019 assembly elections in Maharashtra. The latest to join the bandwagon is MLA and former NCP Maharashtra chief Bhaskar Jadhav. On Friday, Jadhav joined the Shiv Sena in presence of party president Uddhav Thackeray. For Jadhav, the legislator from Guhagar constituency, it is home coming of sorts as the leader had moved to the NCP from Shiv Sena in 2004. Ganesh Naik, Navi Mumbai Strongman, Joins BJP Days Ahead of Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2019.

Speaking after Jadhav was formally inducted into the Sena, Thackeray also said that the Sena-BJP alliance talks for the upcoming state Assembly elections were in the final stages. “The list of seats given by the BJP will be discussed by our party leaders,” Thackeray said. Amit Shah: ‘If BJP Opens Its Door Fully, No One Will Be Left in Opposition Except Sharad Pawar, Prithviraj Chavan’.

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Earlier, former Maharashtra minister and the NCP's Navi Mumbai strongman Ganesh Naik joined the BJP along with around 50 party corporators on Wednesday. Naik deserted the party even as the NCP is in talks with the Congress to finalise seat-sharing for the 288-member assembly.

Naik, his son - former MP Sanjeev - and the 50-odd corporators of the Navi Municipal Corporation (NMMC) formally joined the BJP in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and the partys Maharashtra unit chief Chandrakant Patil at Vashi in adjoining Navi Mumbai.

High profile names and political heavyweights such as former state presidents Madhukar Pichad and Babanrao Pachpute, former Mumbai president Sachin Ahir and state women's wing president Chitra Wagh quit the party apart from several other MLAs and legislators.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 13, 2019 05:42 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).