Jalgaon: Former Speaker of the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha, loyal senior leader of the Nationalist Congress Party, and a trusted colleague of Sharad Pawar, Arunbhai Gujarathi has left NCP (Sharad Pawar Faction) and joined the NCP led by Ajit Pawar.
This has come as a shock to the Sharad Pawar group. The NCP entry ceremony was held in Mumbai on Tuesday evening in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.
News that Gujarathi is going to leave Sharad Pawar has been coming for the last few days. Arunbhai had denied this news, saying that he is an old colleague of Sharad Pawar.
However, Gujarathi's party workers were insistent that he would join Ajit Pawar's group. Gujarathi had earlier expressed the feeling that the work of the workers was not being done due to not being in power. He had to take this decision to maintain his hold on Chopda taluka. Speaking after joining the party, he admitted that he had become a sandwich between his good relations with Sharad Pawar and the insistence of the workers.
Minister Manikrao Kokate, MLA Anil Patil, Narhari Zirwal, Dhananjay Munde, State Spokesperson Anand Paranjape, District President Sanjay Pawar, Raver Lok Sabha District President Umesh Nemad and a large number of district office bearers and workers were present at this entry ceremony. Arun Gujarathi's decision in the backdrop of the local self-government elections has shaken the Sharad Pawar group here.
