NCP MLA resigns from Assembly; set to join Shiv Sena

Six-time legislator Dilip Sopal on Tuesday resigned as NCP MLA and is set to join the Shiv Sena on Wednesday.

Assembly Speaker Haribhau Bagde accepted Sopal's resignation, a Vidhan Bhawan official said.

On Monday, Sopal, NCP MLA from Barshi in Solapur district, had formally announced his decision to quit the Sharad Pawar-led party.

Sopal is expected to join the Shiv Sena in the presence of that party's chief Uddhav Thackeray at a function in Mumbai on Wednesday.

There is speculation that former NCP MP Dr Padamsinh Patil, who has been with the party since its formation in 1999, and his son Rana Jagjitsinh Patil may also be on their way out.

Both were conspicuous by their absence at the NCPs Shiv Swarajya Yatra in Osmanabad on Monday.

An eight-time MLA from Osmanabad, Padamsinh Patil is the brother-in-law of senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar and is considered a confidante of party chief Sharad Pawar.

Among those who left the NCP recently are former minister Madhukar Pichad, his son and party legislator Vaibhav Pichad from Ahmednagar district, legislators Shivendraraje Bhosale from Satara district, Sandeep Naik from Navi Mumbai and the party's former state women's wing chief Chitra Wagh.

All have since joined the BJP.

Former state minister Jaidatta Kshirsagar, NCP's Mumbai unit chief Sachin Ahir, legislator Pandurang Barora from Thane district and party leader Rashmi Bagul from Solapur district recently joined the Shiv Sena.