Mumbai, July 25: In a big blow to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), its senior leader Sachin Ahir joined the Shiv Sena on Wednesday, reports said. Ahir, who is most popular among youth, was a former minister and ex-MLA. He was NCP Mumbai's President. He is the nephew of gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli. The jump from NCP to Shiv Sena comes just ahead of Assembly Polls in the state, which is due during the last quarter of this year.  Priyanka Chaturvedi Joins Shiv Sena After Quitting Congress, Uddhav Thackeray Welcomes Her. 

Also, there were reports, that another senior leader of NCP- Chhagan Bhujbal is also in talks to return to Shiv Sena. Though no official statement has been put out on the matter, there is a buzz that Bhujbal is also likely to join the party. However, Bhujbal, the former Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, denied media reports. Bhujbal started his political career with Shiv Sena in the 1960s, and after a span of over two decades, he joined the NCP.

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Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray is set to address media at his residence later on Thursday evening to announce the induction of the new leader, reports said. The party's Worli MLA Anil Shinde, whose main rival in the constituency is Ahir, is likely to meet Thackeray before the scheduled press briefing to express displeasure on the former minister's induction to the party.

In May this year, Jaydutt Kshirsagar, a former cabinet minister in Maharashtra, resigned from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to join Shiv Sena. According to reports, Kshirsagar had been sulking since the influence of his local rival in Beed, Dhananjay Munday, started growing within the NCP.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 25, 2019 11:55 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).