Is it a move to circumvent coalition compulsions with a difference or is it politics of convenience?  Amid  the seat-sharing hurdles being witnessed within the BJP-led Maha Yuti-NDA, Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil quietly moved over from Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena to Ajit Pawar-headed Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to contest from home constituency of Shirur in Pune district of western Maharashtra.

Given that Patil’s party-hopping has not caused even a ripple in the state political circles, there is a strong reason to believe that Patil has switched from the Shinde-led Shiv Sena to Ajit Pawar-led NCP with the tacit understanding the leaderships between the leaderships of the two coalition partners in the MahaYuti. 

So much so that even the BJP, which leads the coalition, has not taken any objection to Patil’s switch-over from the Shinde Sena to the Ajit Pawar-led NCP. 

If Patil has shifted from the Shinde Sena to the NCP, it is because Shirur seat comes in the quota of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP which does not6 have as strong a candidate as him to take on the sitting NCP (Sharad Pawar) MP Dr Amol Kolhe.

Patil, who was earlier part of the Uddhav Thackeray-led undivided Shiv Sena, had won the Khed seat in 2004 and bagged the neighbouring Shirur seat in 2009 and 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

However, in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Patil had lost by a margin of 58,483 votes to Sharad Pawar-led NCP’s Dr Amol Kolhe, who is a popular face in Maharashtra after having portrayed the roles of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj in the television serials.

A close confidant of Sharad Pawar, Dr Kolhe had stayed with the NCP supremo when Ajit Pawar rebelled against his uncle and walked out of the party to join the Eknath Shinde government along with nine party MLAs in July last year.

The decision by Dr Kolhe to remain with Sr Pawar after the NCP’s vertical split was not taken kindly by breakaway leader Ajit Pawar who had worked hard to ensure the victory of the actor-turned-politician in the 2019 LS polls.

Patil is gung ho about contesting the Shirur seat on a NCP (Ajit Pawar) ticket. 

Confirming that he would contest the Shirur seat as an NCP (Sharad Pawar) candidate,  Patil said:  “I will contest the Shirur Lok Sabha seat on an NCP ticket.. I  will be a Maha Yuti candidate. The Shiv Sena, NCP (Ajit Pawar) and BJP will support me,” Patil said.

Patil faces stiff opposition from Dr Kolhe who is going to be re-fielded by the NCP (Sharad Pawar).  The NCP (Sharad Pawar) has a strong presence in Shirur.