Mumbai/IBNS: After a massive setback in the Lok Sabha elections, Ajit Pawar's faction of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) suffered a fresh jolt as four of its leaders quit and joined the party's camp led by former Maharashtra Chief Minister Sharad Pawar.

NCP's Pimpri-Chinchwad unit chief Ajit Gavhane is one of the four leaders to quit the Ajit Pawar faction.

The other three are Yash Sane, Rahul Bhosale and Pankaj Bhalekar.

The setback comes weeks after Ajit Pawar-led NCP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which are in an alliance, faced drubbing in the general elections.

Pawar's NCP, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction and Congress had managed to win 30 out of 48 seats, giving a jolt to the ruling coalition, Mahayuti.

Following Mahayuti's setback, Sharad Pawar's grandnephew Rohit Pawar had claimed 18-19 MLAs from the Ajit Pawar faction were ready to jump ship.

"There are 18 to 19 (NCP) MLAs who are in touch with us and Pawar saheb," Rohit, an NCP leader, had said as quoted by NDTV.

In Maharashtra, which saw multiple "horse-trading" and alliance crumblings leading to political instability over the last few years, NDA suffered the jolt facing the upbeat INDIA, which won 30 out of 48 seats.

The NDA comprising the Eknath Shinde faction of Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar's NCP could add only 17 seats.

After BJP suffered a drubbing in the state, Deputy Chief Minister and state leader, Devendra Fadnavis, offered to resign taking the blame for the loss.