Jayant Patil resigns as NCP-SP state chief, Shashikant Shinde takes over as new head
Shashikant Shinde is a member of the Legislative Council since 2020 and stood with Sharad Pawar after the split in the NCP, despite most of the party leaders and legislators joining the Ajit Pawar-led faction.
Shinde was elected to the state Legislative Assembly four times in a row, but lost to Mahesh Shinde of the Shiv Sena in 2019. (Credit: X/@shindespeaks) -
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In a change of leadership within the party, Jayant Patil, Maharashtra chief of Nationalist Congress Party (SP) on Tuesday submitted his resignation from the post and the party replaced him with party MLC Shashikant Shinde.
After taking over as NCP(SP) state chief, 61-year-old Shinde said, “It is my greatest honor that a person like me, who comes from the humble background and climbed up the political ladder, has been given the opportunity to lead the party. I assure my leaders that I will work day and night, not only to raise the people’s issues but to also build the organisation in such a manner that it reclaims the power once again.”
“There is a huge political vaccum that needs to be filled by the Opposition. When we will stand as a strong organisation, I am confident that the people of Maharashtra will come to us in large numbers,” he said.
Shinde is a member of the Legislative Council since 2020 and stood with Sharad Pawar after the split in the NCP, despite most of the party leaders and legislators joining the Ajit Pawar-led faction.
Shinde was elected to the state Legislative Assembly four times in a row, but lost to Mahesh Shinde of the Shiv Sena in 2019. In the first two elections, he won from the Jaoli Assembly segment in Satara district. After the delimitation, he contested from Koregaon and won in 2009 and 2014.
He was the Water Resources Minister in the Congress-NCP government in 2013. A resident of Koregaon in Satara district, Shinde lost to Chhatrapati Udayanraje Bhosle of the BJP by around 32,000 votes in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. An independent candidate with a similar poll symbol won around 37,000 votes in that election.
Earlier, at a party function, Patil submitted his resignation from the post after which Shinde’s name was proposed by senior party leader Anil Deshmukh and seconded by Lok Sabha MP Amol Kolhe.
Speculations have been rife for weeks about Patil stepping down from the post, which he has been holding for over seven years now. At a party function on June 10, Patil himself had expressed desire of stepping down from the post but was opposed by a section of party workers.
At his speech, Patil resigned in a lyrical manner, “I am going but not quitting. I have taken a step backward but aim is fixed. I was the commander but the army stands firm even now.”
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