India, Oct. 3 -- The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar)'s Thane district president Suhas Desai and secretary Santosh Nagle on Thursday switched sides and joined the Ajit Pawar faction. The duo was inducted at the NCP office in Thane by Ajit, who stopped there on his way to Murbad.

Desai's switch was literally overnight-on Wednesday night, he attended a maha aarti at the Tulja Bhavani temple in Thane's Panch Pakhadi with senior NCP (SP) leader and MLA Jitendra Awhad of whom he has been a strong supporter. Now the new Thane president in the ruling NCP, Desai said he had joined the party "to serve the residents better in the upcoming corporation elections".

Addressing the media, Ajit Pawar said, "While engaging in social work and po...