Click here to join Express Pune WhatsApp channel and get a curated list of our stories
Vishal Patil revolts, faces expulsion as Sangli gears up for three-cornered contest
Monday was the last day for withdrawing nominations for the election to be held on May 7.
Vishal is the grandson of former chief minister Vasantdada Patil. (Photo: X/ @patilvishalp)Maharashtra’s Sangli Lok Sabha constituency is headed for a three-cornered contest as Vishal Patil, a Congress leader, has refused to withdraw his nomination despite being asked by his party to do so. Monday was the last day for withdrawing nominations for the election to be held on May 7.
“Vishal Patil did not withdraw his nomination papers today. He was asked to do so by the party, yet he has refused. Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee chief Nana Patole will soon announce appropriate action to be taken against him,” a Congress spokesperson told The Indian Express. “Vishal Patil might be expelled from the party,” he added.
Patil has filed his form as an independent candidate. Patil will now be locked in a three-cornered contest with sitting MP Sanjaykaka Patil, who has been renominated by the BJP, and Chandrahar Patil of the Shiv Sena (UBT), which is part of the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi, of which the Congress is a constituent.
Speaking to reporters in Sangli, Patil said, “I received several calls from the Congress urging me to withdraw from the fray. I was offered various posts. I don’t want any post. My candidacy belongs to the people. The ordinary party worker in Sangli is behind me…Our strength will keep growing in the coming days.”
Patil said he has no personal agenda. “I am not a selfish person. My fight is for the Congress. We want a Congress MP in Sangli. There is no three-cornered contest in Sangli. There will be a direct fight between me and Sanjaykaka Patil,” he said.
Patil said he waited for the Congress AB form till the last minute. “The form never came my way. It hurt me badly. I was thinking that I would be the MVA’s official candidate,” he said.
The Congress rank and file led by MLA Vishwajeet Kadam had demanded that the party contest the polls from Sangli, which they argued had been a Congress bastion. The party has, however, lost it for two consecutive times during the Modi wave.
Kadam had met party leaders in Delhi as well as in Mumbai and urged them to persuade the Sena (UBT) to give the seat to the Congress. However, nothing worked as the Sena (UBT) refused to part with the seat. In fact, Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray had demanded action against the Congress rebel.
The Sena UBT, however, has promised that it will ensure “justice” for Patil if he withdraws from the race. He is the grandson of former chief minister Vasantdada Patil.
The Congress has so far avoided campaigning for Chandrahar Patil, a popular wrestler in Sangli. He had offered to opt out of the race on the condition that the Congress should tell the people that the party did not want to let a farmer’s son contest the election.
Click here to join Express Pune WhatsApp channel and get a curated list of our stories











