NCP (SP) leader and former Maharashtra legislator Hiray joins BJP

Nationalist Congress Party (SP) leader and former Maharashtra MLA Apoorv Hiray on Wednesday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) along with hundreds of his supporters, saying he was impressed by the saffron outfit's development-oriented vision.

Hiray formally entered the BJP at the party's state headquarters in Mumbai in the presence of newly-elected Maharashtra BJP president Ravindra Chavan and senior minister Chandrakant Patil.

The induction of the former NCP (SP) MLA, who hails from Nashik in north Maharashtra, into the lead ruling coalition constituent had been widely speculated in recent days and it came ahead of the upcoming local body elections in Maharashtra.

Speaking on the occasion, Hiray said he joined the BJP to contribute to the holistic development of rural and urban areas.

''I took this decision due to the insistence of rural and urban workers and the BJP's development-oriented vision,'' said the former legislator, who had served as state vice-president of the Sharad Pawar-led opposition party.

Meanwhile, Sawkar Madnaik, a prominent farmer leader and long-time associate of former Lok Sabha MP Raju Shetti, also joined the BJP, which heads the Mahayuti government in the state.

Madnaik, an active figure in farmers' movements and a senior leader from Shetti's Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, was inducted into the BJP in the presence of Chavan and Patil.

He had worked with Shetti, a prominent farm leader, since 2002 and his departure was being seen as a setback to the Swabhimani outfit.

In further blow to the NCP (SP) led by former Union minister Sharad Pawar, another party member, Pravin Mane, a former Pune Zilla Parishad president and son of ex-district council chairman Dashrath Mane, also joined the BJP.

Mane hails from Indapur, a politically significant region in Pune district, the home turf of Pawar.

Addressing party workers after his induction, Mane said, ''This is a golden moment in my personal life. I thank Ravindra Chavan for inducting me into the largest party in India and also the world. I am inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision and development works undertaken under the leadership of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.'' He claimed that as an independent candidate in the Assembly elections last year, he had secured 40,000 votes, and there had been discussions among his supporters about joining a party.

''Only one name came up -- BJP,'' Mane said and praised Chavan's rise from a grassroots worker to state president as something possible only within the BJP.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)