NCP’s Mahale makes ‘ghar wapasi’ to Sena

Mumbai: Former MLA Dhanraj Mahale, who had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha polls on a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) ticket in 2019, has made a ‘gharwapasi’ to the Shiv Sena.

Mr Mahale re-joined the Sena in the presence of party president Uddhav Thackeray on Friday. Along with Mr Mahale, another NCP leader, Dilip Raut, and few other party workers also joined the Sena.

He is likely to be fielded by the Sena from Dindori constituency in the upcoming Assembly polls.

Just before the Lok Sabha elections, Mr Mahale had joined the NCP, which fielded him from the Dindori constituency.

However, Bharati Pawar, a local leader, was irked and joined the BJP. Later, Ms Pawar defeated Mr Mahale by nearly two lakh votes.

“Mahale and Raut have joined the Sena. Dhanraj’s connection with the party is not new. Along with him, our well-wisher, Nashik MP Kacharubhau Raut’s son Dilip has also joined the party. I am sure this will help boost the strength of our party,” said Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut.

Mr Mahale is a former MLA from Dindori in Nashik district. According to political sources, he was not sure of winning on a NCP ticket. Hence, he decided to switch over to the Sena. In the seat-sharing formula between BJP-Sena alliance, the Dindori seat belongs to the Sena.

Mr Mahale quitting the party is yet another blow to the NCP, which is already battling with a series of desertions. The party’s Mumbai unit chief Sachin Ahir had quit the party and joined the Sena.

On the state level too, four MLAs – Jaydutt Kshirsagar, Pandurang Barora, Sandeep Naik and Vaibhav Pichad – resigned from the party. Apart from them, Madhukar Pichad and women’s wing leader Chitra Wagh have left the NCP too.