Six BJP councillors from the Muktainagar Municipal Council in Jalgaon, who were considered close to Maharashtra NCP leader Eknath Khadse, have joined the Shiv Sena.
Khadse, who hails from Jalgaon, quit the BJP last year following his unceremonious exit from the Devendra Fadnavis- led state ministry in 2016 over land grab allegations. He subsequently joined the NCP, which shares power with the Shiv Sena and Congress in Maharashtra.
State minister Eknath Shinde in tweet on Wednesday said six BJP councillors from the Muktainagar Municipal Council, Piyush Bhagwat Mahajan, Mukesh Wankhede, Santosh Pralhad Koli, Yunus Khan, Arif Azad and Noor Khan, joined the Sena in Mumbai in the presence of party president and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
Another state minister and Shiv Sena leader Gulabrao Patil on Thursday said the councillors joined the Shiv Sena on their own."We did not put pressure on them. The way Eknath Khadse has been welcomed by the NCP, we welcome his supporters into the Shiv Sena. We have not inducted any corporator elected on the NCP's ticket into the Shiv Sena," he said
