Mr Vaghela's entry into the NCP can lead to a three-way fight on a few Lok Sabha seats (File)

Former Gujarat Chief Minister Shankarsinh Vaghela is set to join the Nationalist Congress Party, the state unit of the Sharad Pawar-led party said on Thursday.

The 78-year-old leader had left the Congress before the 2017 Gujarat assembly elections. He had then helped the BJP in the Rajya Sabha polls.

"Former Chief Minister of Gujarat Shankarsinh Vaghela will join NCP in presence of party president Sharad Pawar and senior leader Praful Patel," Gujarat NCP president Jayant Patel alias Boski said.

"Vaghela ji is a dynamic leader who knows the pulse of state and the country. I welcome his entry into the NCP and it will give a boost to the party in the state,"he said.

The former union minister is likely to join the NCP on January 29, the party sources said.

However, Mr Vaghela has so far neither confirmed nor denied that he will join the NCP.

Mr Vaghela's entry into the NCP can lead to a three-way fight on a few Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat if the Congress fails to enter into a pre-poll alliance with Mr Pawar's party.

The state has 26 Lok Sabha seats and all of them were won by the BJP in the 2014 general elections.

Mr Vaghela had left the Congress before the 2017 state assembly polls, after he and a few lawmakers supporting him voted against Congress candidate for the Rajya Sabha, Ahmed Patel and backed BJP nominee Balwantsinh Rajput.

Mr Vaghela, however, did not join the ruling