India News | Ex-MLA and Sena Leader Tukaram Surve Joins NCP

Mumbai, Jun 18 (PTI) Former Shrivardhan MLA and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Tukaram Surve on Wednesday joined the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.

Describing the development as a golden chapter in his life, NCP state president and MP Sunil Tatkare welcomed Surve into the party.

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“Shrivardhan had been a Shiv Sena stronghold since 1995. While there was political rivalry, there was never any personal animosity. After I was elected from this constituency, the region witnessed significant political change. I even got fewer votes in the area owing to Surve's loyalty to his party at the time,” Tatkare said.

Surve, who was elected to the assembly from Shrivardhan in the state's coastal Konkan region in 2005, had lost to Tatkare in 2009. After the split in the Bal Thackeray-founded Shiv Sena in 2022, he chose to be with the Shiv Sena (UBT) headed by Uddhav Thackeray.

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“By setting aside your past affiliations and embracing secular ideology, this marks a new dawn in Shrivardhan's political landscape,” said Tatkare.

After the poor performance of the Sena (UBT) in last year's assembly polls, in which the party won only 20 of the 288 seats in the state, many of its leaders have switched sides.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)