In an emerging threat to the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) unity, Congress leader and former chief minister Vasantdada Patil’s grandson Vishal Prakashbapu Patil on Monday filed his nomination as an Independent candidate for the contentious Sangli Lok Sabha seat in western Maharashtra, challenging the MVA Shiv Sena (UBT) nominee Chandrahar Patil.
Nearly a week after the MVA – comprising Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (Sharad Pawar) – inked the seat-sharing deal under which the Mallikarjun Kharge-led party gave its claim on Sangli seat and gave the Uddhav Thackeray Sena, the Congress’ Vishal Patil is no mood to give up his plans to contest the Lok Sabha polls from the traditional Congress stronghold.
With four days to go for the end of nominations, Vishal Patil – who is the son of five-time MP Prakashbapu Patil – quietly filed his papers as an Independent candidate from the Sangli constituency. If he remains in the electoral fray, Vishal Patil will take on Chandrahar Patil of the Shiv Sena (UBT) and BJP’s two-time sitting MP Sanjaykaka Patil who is seeking election for the third time, in a three-cornered contest.
Interestingly enough, the development came on a day when the ruling BJP’s former MLA Vilas Jagtap resigned from the primary membership of his party and announced his support to Vishal Patil.
“For several years now, I have been working for the growth of the BJP at Sangli. But, the party leadership has not taken cognisance of efforts. Instead, the group opposed to me within the party has complained to the BJP leadership. I cannot tolerate this kind of thing,” Jagtap said, after announcing his resignation from the BJP.
Meanwhile, sources close to Vishal Patil – who is still hopeful of getting the Congress ticket to contest the Lok Sabha polls -- said that if allowed to do so, he might file a second set of nomination as a Congress candidate on Tuesday.
However, party sources said that the Congress leadership -- after having given up its claim on the Sangli seat-- is quite unlikely to give Vishal Patil Form-B, authorising him to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Sangli constituency.
In case, Vishal Patil decides to contest as an Independent candidate, the Congress may not do much except expelling him from the party.
It may be recalled that Vishal Patil – who along with Congress MLA Dr. Vishwajeet Kadam from Palus-Kadegaon in Sangli and other senior district party leaders had met Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and other top brass in New Delhi several times insisting that the Congress should not give up its claim on the Sangli.
Last week Vishal Patil and Kadam also made a public appeal to Shiv Sena (UBT) President and former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to forsake the Sangli seat to the Congress. However, the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief – who had staked claim for the Sangli seat and even announced the candidate even when the MVA was in the midst of the seat-sharing talks –is no mood to oblige the Congress on Sangli seat.
Following the refusal by the Shiv Sena (UBT) to give up the Sangli seat, the Congress workers have been threatening not to campaign for the Sena (UBT) nominee Chandrahar Patil, who is a wrestling champion.
The Sangli Lok Sabha seat has been a major bone of contention for several weeks now. So much so that state Congress chief Nana Patole had made an issue of Sena (UBT) unilaterally ‘grabbing’ the Sangli seat even when the seat-sharing negotiations were in progress last month.
