Big Blow to Ajit Pawar's NCP as 25 Leaders Join Sharad Pawar's Faction

Mumbai: In a major blow to Ajit Pawar, 25 leaders of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) quit the party and joined Sharad Pawar's faction ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly polls.

The list includes a crucial loss for Ajit from Pimpri-Chinchwad as unit chief Ajit Gavhane along with 24 others exited the party.

"We have all joined Sharad Pawar's party since believe the only party which can take Pimpri-Chinchwad and rest of Maharashtra forward is NCP (SP)," said Gavhane.

Earlier on Tuesday, Gavhane along with  Rahul Bhosale, Yash Sane, and Pankaj Bhalekar, tendered their resignations.

Ajit Gavhane's Big Statement After Breaking Ranks With Ajit Pawar 

After resigning from Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), unit chief Ajit Gavhane from Pimpri-Chinchwad made a big statement saying that he was unhappy with the development done in constituencies across the state. 

 "I resigned yesterday and today all the ex-corporators will be holding a meeting and strategising on our next moves. We will also take the blessing of Sharad Pawar."

“If you look at Pimpri-Chinchwad, both Ajit dada and Pawar sahab had contributed to its development. But since 2017, the Bharatiya Janata Party has been ruling PPMC [Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation]. The development work here was done in a wrong way, especially if you look at other constituencies. There was rampant corruption here and the sitting MLA is responsible for it,” he added. 

The Pimpri-Chinchwad has long been considered Ajit Pawar's strong bastion, with his influence dominating the local politics for almost three decades.

Until 2017, Ajit's party (then the undivided NCP) controlled the civic body. However, the departure of these leaders could potentially trigger a wave of defections from Ajit Pawar's faction in the region.

(Inputs from ANI)