NCP’s Avdhut Tatkare, his father join Shiv Sena; Bhaskar Jadhav to follow suit

The exodus from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) continued on Monday, with its MLA from Shrivardhan constituency in Raigad district, Avdhut Tatkare, joining the Shiv Sena.

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray inducted Tatkare and his father Anil, a former MLC and brother of senior NCP MP Sunil Tatkare, into the Sena at Matoshree. The exit of the father-son duo and split in the Tatkare family is a blow for the NCP. The fight in Shrivardhan, seen as a sure seat for the NCP, will now be a close contest between Avdhut and his cousin, Aditi, daughter of Sunil Tatkare.

Another heavyweight leader from the NCP, Bhaskar Jadhav, is going to join the Sena on September 13, he said on Monday. Jadhav, a former Sena leader, is NCP MLA from Guhagar in Ratnagiri district.

Jadhav, also former state president of NCP, said he would join the Sena with his supporters.

Speaking to reporters in Ratnagiri, Jadhav said, “I and nine Zilla Parishad presidents will join the Shiv Sena on September 13, in the presence of Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray.”

With Avdhut and Jadhav joining the Sena, the party will consolidate its grip in the Konkan region, which is its stronghold. The Sena has consecutively won the Shrivardhan Assembly seat in three Assembly elections between 1995 and 2004, and even a by-poll in 2006. However, Sunil Tatkare won the seat in 2009 and Avdhut, then backed by his uncle, bagged it in 2014.

Jadhav had met Thackeray on August 25 at Matoshree to finalise the move to Sena.

He started his political career from the Shiv Sena in 1982 and climbed the party hierarchy from being a Vibhag Pramukh in Chiplun. Jadhav was elected twice to the legislative Assembly on a Sena ticket in 1995 and in 1999 from Chiplun Assembly segment. He quit the Sena in 2004.

A key figure for the NCP in Ratnagiri, Jadhav joined the party in 2005. He was appointed the state president of the party in 2013.