PUNE: In a major setback to the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), four of its top leaders including the party's Pimpri-Chinchwad unit chief Ajit Gavhane have quit the party.
Gavhane and the others submitted resignation letters to party president Sunil Tatkare.
Hinting at the leaders switching sides to Sharad Pawar led parent organisation of NCP, Gavhane said, "We will seek the blessing of Sharad Pawar."
The other leaders who have quit the party include Pimpri Chinchwad Students' Wing chief Yash Sane and former corporators Rahul Bhosale and Pankaj Bhalekar, reported NDTV.
The move comes days after Sharad Pawar had stated that his party would take in members who wish to return to the fold, considering they don't intend to "weaken the party."
"Those who wanted to weaken the party would not be taken in. But those leaders who would help strengthen the organization and not hurt the image of the party would be taken in," Pawar had said.
The Ajit Pawar-led NCP has come under pressure after its poll debacle in the Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra. The Ajit Pawar-led NCP managed to win just one seat out of the four seats it contested, while the Sharad Pawar-led NCP bagged eight seats.
According to an RSS-linked weekly, several members of the BJP, the NCP's major alliance partner in Maharashtra, have blamed the party citing it as a reason for the saffron party's poor performance in the state in the Lok Sabha elections.
