Sena to field Vikhe-Patil from Ahmednagar seat

MUMBAI, JAN 30: Erstwhile Congress leader and sugar baron Balasaheb Vikhe-Patil will be Shiv Sena’s nominee for the Lok Sabha polls from the Ahmednagar (South) parliamentary constituency. In the last election, Sena had nominated industrialist Parvez Damania, who was defeated by Congress candidate Dada Shelke. However, after the last parliamentary elections, Patil’s son Radhakrishna, who was Congress legislator from Shirdi, resigned from the party to join the Shiv Sena. Subsequently, he was inducted into the cabinet as Agriculture Minister.

Patil, arch rival of Sharad Pawar, was elected to the parliament for three consecutive terms as a Congress candidate. After he was denied a party ticket, he unsuccessfully contested as an independent candidate. At a recent rally at Ahmednagar, he joined the Sena in the presence of Sena supremo Bal Thackeray.

The Sena is yet to decide about its nominees for two seats, Washim in Akola district and Khed in Pune district. Though it had offered the Washim seat to formerChief Election Commissioner T N Seshan, he had declined, saying, he did not wish to contest from a rural constituency.

Meanwhile, the Congress has decided to field 19 new faces from various constituencies in Maharashtra for the coming Lok Sabha elections.