The Nationalist Congress Party-NCP, a partner in the Congress led coalition government in Maharashtra has sacked cabinet minister Vijaykumar Gavit after his daughter joined BJP to contest election from Nandurbar Lok Sabha constituency.

NCP sources informed that a formal request was made to Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan last evening to drop Medical Education Minister Vijaykumar Gavit from the state cabinet. Accordingly, a recommendation to the effect was sent to Governor K. Sankaranarayanan.

Earlier in the day, NCP leader Gavit's daughter Heena Gavit joined BJP in the presence of party chief Rajnath Singh and prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in New Delhi. She was rewarded with a ticket for the Nandurbar tribal constituency in north Maharashtra.

Nine-time Congress MP and Minister of State for Social Justice Manikrao Gavit is seeking tenth term from this constituency