Mumbai, July 2: Gopinath Munde’s nephew Dhananjay Munde today quit the BJP and resigned as MLC and said he would contest the next polls on a Nationalist Congress Party ticket.

Son of BJP leader Gopinath’s estranged elder brother Pandit Anna Munde, Dhananjay handed his papers to legislative council chairperson Shivajirao Deshmukh at Vidhan Bhavan this afternoon.

Asked if he would contest the Lok Sabha poll against Gopinath or the Parli Assembly seat against cousin Pankaja Munde Palve, Dhananjay said: “I am ready to contest in whatever capacity the NCP asks me. I will abide by the directives of Sharad Pawarji and Ajitdada like a true party worker.”

Dhananjay said he had distanced himself from the BJP since January 2012 and had been working actively for the NCP in Beed district. He said the NCP had secured a majority in zilla parishad and panchayat samiti polls since then.

Although his resignation has not surprised anyone, its timing created a flutter as his MLC term ends only in 2016. Sources said Dhananjay had been miffed since the 2009 Assembly elections when Gopinath chose daughter Pankaja over him to contest from Parli. Instead, he was offered the MLC seat and felt ignored in the party.

The rift between the uncle and the nephew came out in the open in December 2011 during the Parli municipal polls when Dhananjay put up independent candidates against the BJP’s official candidates chosen by his uncle.

Flouting the party whip, Dhananjay and his supporters not only put up Deepak Deshmukh against the BJP’s official nominee, Jugal Kishore Lohiya, for the president’s post but also ensured that he won by a handsome margin.

A month later, Dhananjay’s father, Pandit Anna Munde, formally joined the NCP and publicly made allegations that Gopinath’s wife and Pramod Mahajan’s sister, Pradnya, was responsible for the rift in the family.

To rub salt in Gopinath’s wounds, Ajit Pawar was present when Pandit Anna entered the NCP. The NCP gave Pandit Anna the ticket for the Beed zilla parishad polls held in February 2012. Though Gopinath exacted his revenge by defeating his elder brother, the NCP went on to capture 29 of the 50 seats against the BJP’s 20 and snatched power in the traditional Sena-BJP stronghold in Marathawada.

In November 2012, Dhananjay gave another jolt to his uncle by ensuring the victory of an NCP panel in the gram panchayat polls held in Nathra, the native village of Gopinath. Gopinath and his daughter Pankaja camped in Nathra for several days to ensure a win, but the nephew trumped the uncle by winning all seven seats.

That was the first time that an election was held in Nathra gram panchayat in the last 20 years as candidates nominated by Gopinath would get elected unopposed in the past.

Dhananjay’s resignation came at a time when Gopinath is in a fix over his Rs 8 crore poll expense gaffe made during a book release in Mumbai.