Mar 1, 2009: Maharashtra's senior Congress leader Govindrao Adik shunted the party and joined its ally Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Sunday, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Adik decided to quit the party after his name was dropped from the recent Cabinet expansion and as he was unhappy with the treatment meted to him compared to rebels in the party.
Adik was also against revoking the suspension of rebel leader Narayan Rane.
Before leaving the party, he wrote a letter to Sonia Gandhi and pushed NCP chief Sharad Pawar's name for post of Prime Minister.
The senior leader announced his entry in NCP at the pre-election convention held in Nashik on Sunday.
Senior leader Govindrao Adik joined the Nationalist Congress Party on March 1 leaving the Congress party due to rising differences.
Adik was a senior leader of the Congress, who header the MPCC and was a member of Legislative Council.
During his stint in the Congress, he was also Member of Parliament in Rajya Sabha and Agriculture Minister of Maharashtra from 2003-2005.
He was one of the longest serving leaders in the Congress and was considered a Congress loyalist.