In another setback to the Sharad Pawar-led NationalistCongress Party (NCP) ahead of the Maharashtra assembly polls, three MLAsresigned on Tuesday.

Sources say the three lawmakers— Sandeep Naik, VaibhavPichad and Shivendrasinh Bhonsle — are expected to join the Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) on Wednesday.

The current resignations take the number of lawmakers wholeft NCP in the last two months to five. Jaydutt Kshirsagar and PandurangBarora have already joined Shiv Sena. Last week, Mumbai NCP president SachinAhir too left NCP and joined Shiv Sena. A Congress MLA, Kalidas Kolambkar fromWadala assembly constituency in Mumbai, also resigned. He is also expected tojoin BJP on Wednesday.

Kolambkar has already declared that he will join BJP. Aseven-time MLA, he is a close aide of former chief minister Narayan Rane.Kolambkar was one of the MLAs who left Shiv Sena along with Rane and joinedCongress in 2006.

All the three NCP MLAs who quit on Tuesday submitted theirresignations to Maharashtra assembly speaker Haribhau Bagade.

Sandeep Naik is son of Ganesh Naik, senior NCP leader and strongmanfrom Navi Mumbai and represents the Airolo constituency. Shivendrasinh Bhonsleis an MLA from Satara while Vaibhav Pichad is the MLA of Akole seat inAhmednagar.In the 2014 state polls, NCP had won 41 of the 288 seats in theassembly.