Sleepwalking to victory

In 1996, the party made the mistake of replacing him with 8216;8216;outsider8217;8217; Ghulam Nabi Azad, and had to pay for it with a humiliating defeat.

Patil looks set to romp home again. His committed voters complain he has never shown them his face. All they seem to know about him is his getting caught 8216;8216;napping8217;8217; in Parliament a few years ago. And yet, they are happy to vote for him again. 8216;8216;I don8217;t know if he has ever asked a question in Parliament on our behalf,8217;8217; says Mahadeo Chopne from Pandharkawda village. 8216;8216;He goes there only to sleep on Chair No. 160,8217;8217; jokes another villager Ashok Kelkar.

The 8216;8216;napping8217;8217; story makes the rounds of the constituency but surprisingly it hasn8217;t ever affected Patil8217;s poll prospects.

8216;8216;I vote for the party, not him,8217;8217; says Chopne. 8216;8216;His success is due to the Maratha-Kunbi lobby,8217;8217; says Bapurao Pudke from Zullar. Political observers in the constituency agree but insist it would be unfair not to acknowledge Patil8217;s personal strengths. Says veteran journalist and Yavatmal Loksatta correspondent N.M. Joshi: 8216;8216;He is known for his low-profile, non-egotist approach. He hardly interferes in bureaucracy and doesn8217;t show off.8217;8217;

And if Patil hasn8217;t done anything spectacular in his career, he hasn8217;t done anything bad either. And that has left him with fewer political and personal enemies.

Operating from a house that seems too ordinary by the standards set by fellow politicians, Patil discusses strategies with his workers sitting below the portrait of his late father Deorao, a two-time MP and one of late Indira Gandhi8217;s trusted men. A graduate in agricultural studies, the techno-savvy Patil was one of the first MPs to use a laptop.

8216;8216;Yes, I don8217;t go to many villages. But my workers give me all the feedback, and I give them whatever the villages want,8217;8217; says Patil whose profession is farming.

He doesn8217;t address too many rallies and attends few functions. 8216;8216;To say that I haven8217;t done anything is unfair. I brought TV and Akashwani to Yavatmal. Yavatmal has realised greater irrigation potential than other districts. I am really perplexed when they say this is the most backward district. Study the facts and figures and you will know the truth,8217;8217; he says. Patil says he spent his MP funds mostly on roads, water and community halls for villages. But not many villages have seen signs of this spending.

The unassuming politician does, however, have some political detractors in the district. Ex-minister Shivajirao Moghe and Minister of State for Energy Manikrao Thakre are his reckoned rivals. But Patil has his own style of subduing challenge as was evident in Ghulam Nabi8217;s defeat. Though he refutes allegations of a fatwa against Azad, the party8217;s defeat is attributed to his non-cooperation.

Coincidentally, BJP8217;s repeat nominee Haribhau Rathod, too, is considered as an 8216;8216;outsider8217;8217; who hasn8217;t shown up in the past five years. Rathod lost by a margin of just about 15,000 votes in 1999. With the Congress-NCP pact this time, Patil hopes to win again, only to break his own record.