Mumbai, May 22: Jaydutt Kshirsagar, a former cabinet minister in Maharashtra, resigned from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Wednesday. Jaydutt Kshirsagar will join Shiv Sena later today. According to reports, Kshirsagar had been sulking since the influence of his local rival in Beed, Dhananjay Munday, started growing within the NCP.

A miffed Kshirsagar extended his support BJP-Shiv Sena’s Beed candidate Dr Pritam Munde against NCP nominee Bajrang Manohar Sonwane and urged people to cast vote in his favour. In April, he held a secret meeting with Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray at his residence Matoshree. However, he denied any talks regarding him joining the party. Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Top Maharashtra Congress Leader, Campaigns For Son Contesting on BJP Ticket.

Kshirsagar claimed that it was a "courtesy visit" to wish Thackeray a happy new year. Yuva Sena chief Aditya Thackeray, President of Beed Zila Parishad Bharatbhushan Kshirsagar, party secretary Milind Narvekar were among the attendees.

Earlier in March, Congress leader Vikhe Patil’s son Sujay joined the BJP in presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and he was later given a ticket to contest from the Ahmednagar South Lok Sabha seat. Maharashtra has 48 parliamentary constituencies. In April, Vikhe Patil resigned as Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 22, 2019 12:32 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).