File photo of Vijaykumar Gavit
NCP leader Vikaykumar Gavit was today dropped as Maharashtra's Horticulture and Medical Education minister. The NCP had approached Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan after Mr Gavit's daughter Heena joined the BJP and was given a ticket to contest the Lok Sabha election from Nandurbar in north Maharashtra.
NCP leader and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar conveyed the party's request to the Chief Minister, who forwarded the recommendation to Governor K Sankaranarayanan. The Governor accepted the recommendation later in the evening.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar had earlier warned Mr Gavit after reports surfaced that his daughter was going to join the BJP.
"If his daughter joins BJP, I, as the leader of the NCP parliamentary party, will write to Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan to dismiss him immediately, and remove him from the primary membership of the party," Mr Pawar had said.
Mr Gavit had helped the NCP grow in the tribal district of Nandurbar, once a Congress stronghold. His brother Sharad Gavit is an independent MLA. The parliamentary seat is currently represented by former Union minister Manikrao Gavit of Congress.
A few months ago, the Anti-Corruption Bureau had asked for the state government's sanction to prosecute Vijaykumar Gavit in a scam. While 49 others were prosecuted, Mr Gavit was left out after the Cabinet rejected the demand.