Amit Shah was addressing a rally on the home turf of Congress heavyweight Sushilkumar Shinde (File Photo)

Highlights Amit Shah jabs Congress, NCP in Maharashtra ahead of state polls

He takes dig over "influx" of party leaders joining the ruling party

Both the parties, especially NCP, have witnessed a number of desertions

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday took a dig at the Congress and Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in Maharashtra over their party leaders joining the BJP in droves ahead of the state election due later this year.

Amit Shah, the BJP president, was in south Maharashtra's Solapur, addressing the ''Mahajanadesh Yatra'' launched on August 1 by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

"If the BJP opens its door completely, except for Sharad Pawar and Prithviraj Chavan, there will be no one left in their parties," Mr Shah said while addressing a rally on the home turf of Congress heavyweight Sushilkumar Shinde.

Mr Pawar is the president of the NCP while Mr Chavan is a former chief minister of the Congress.

Both the parties, especially the NCP, have witnessed a number of defections to the ruling Shiv Sena and BJP.

On Sunday, Mr Pawar lost two MLAs known to be close to him, to the BJP. They joined the BJP in the presence of Mr Shah. Along with them, a Congress MLA, Jaykumar Gore, also switched to the BJP.

Another NCP leader, who is also related to Mr Pawar, quit on Saturday.

The Congress has also lost top leaders like former Maharashtra chief minister Narayan Rane and Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil.