In the election year, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continues to take in winnable candidates to expand its base by poaching Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders.

Former minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) legislator from Beed Jaydutt Kshirsagar on Wednesday indicated he was on his way out to the BJP. A day earlier, a former minister of Congress from Raigad, Ravisheth Patil, joined the BJP.

Kshirsagar had organised a programme in his home district to inaugurate several flagship schemes, where the chief guests were chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and rural development minister Pankaja Munde. While there has been speculation about him quitting the NCP for some time, the event on Wednesday, which most NCP leaders missed, was a clear indication of Kshirsagar’s plans.

Fadnavis did the bhoomipujan of a new building meant for a 100-bed hospital. Only two NCP MLCs from the region, Vikram Kale and Satish Chavan, were present at the function. The banners for the event, too, had pictures of Fadnavis and Munde, instead of NCP chief Sharad Pawar or his nephew and former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar.

Last year, Fadnavis had attended another function organised by Kshirsagar in Delhi for the Teli community, part of the other backward class.

Kshirsagar, however, denied that he was quitting the NCP to join the BJP. “Nothing should be read between the lines. This was a government function to inaugurate schemes, so the CM and rural development minister were there. It was not a political function,” he said.

In the six Assembly constituencies in Beed district, Kshirsagar is the only NCP MLA, while the rest are from the BJP. If Kshirsagar joins the BJP, the district will become a BJP bastion.

Meanwhile, Ravisheth Patil said he joined the BJP as he was upset with the Congress’ decision to tie up with the Peasants and Workers Party (PWP), ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. “How can you tie up with your political rival? There is a lot of bad blood between us in the region. My workers will not work with PWP. Moreover, the BJP’s work in the area has been good,” he said.

A former MLA from Pen constituency, Patil had lost to PWP candidate in the 2014 polls. The BJP has little presence in Konkan and by poaching Patil, the BJP can put up a good candidate from the constituency in the Assembly polls. “This is just the beginning. We will continue to take in winnable candidates and many more sitting legislators will make a beeline for the BJP ahead of polls,” said a senior BJP leader.

First Published: Feb 07, 2019 10:55 IST