Pune (Maharashtra): Ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly polls, former Bharatiya Janata Party leader Harshvardhan Patil, his daughter Ankita Patil and others joined the Nationalist Congress Party (SP) at a grand function in his home town Indapur, here on Monday.
The Patils and their supporters were welcomed formally to the party by NCP(SP) President Sharad Pawar, Working President Supriya Sule, MPs, MLAs and other bigwigs with posters near the venue heralding the new entrant as a ‘future minister’, which is construed as a blow to the BJP.
Last Friday, Patil quit the BJP and announced his intention to join the Sharad Pawar-led party along with all his office-bearers and supporters, giving a pre-election booster dose to the NCP(SP) which is a constituent of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) opposition alliance.
“This is the wish of the people and the workers of Indapur…All the people of all castes and religions wanted to join the NCP(SP) and we are bowing to their wishes,” said Patil on discarding the BJP’s ‘Lotus’ and holding aloft the NCP (SP)’s poll symbol of ‘The Trumpeter’.
As the NCP(SP) top brass greeted him inside the venue, outside many banners and posters were seen proclaiming Patil as a ‘future minister’ indicating that he is likely to contest as the party’s candidate from Indapur against the ruling ally Nationalist Congress Party’s sitting MLA Dattatray V. Bharne.
Incidentally, Patil has been a four-time veteran elected from Indapur, thrice as an Independent (1995,1999, 2004) and once as a Congress nominee (2009), but in 2019, he quit the Congress and contested on a BJP ticket, and lost with a wafer-thin margin to Bharne.
His daughter Ankita Patil, a former Pune Zilla Parishad Member, and all the followers of the father-daughter duo have also picked up the NCP(SP) flag for the upcoming state polls.
Uncertain about getting a nomination from Indapur as the seat falls in the Ajit Pawar-led NCP quota, Patil was peeved with the BJP for not putting its foot down in the matter and subsequently held meetings with Sharad Pawar before joining NCP(SP).
Interestingly, Patil’s entry has led to some heartburns among certain NCP(SP) leaders and party toppers are making efforts to mollify them and ward off any potential damage ahead of the polls.
IANS
Exit polls project BJP sweep in Assam
Guwahati: Several exit poll surveys on Wednesday projected a decisive victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party in Assam, indicating that incumbent Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is set to return...
Exit polls predict exit for CM Vijayan and Left in Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram: The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) is likely to return to power in Kerala, after a decade in the opposition, as per a broad convergence of exit poll projections...
Kamakhya exit poll signals three-way battle in Tamil Nadu, no clear majority in sight
Chennai: The latest Kamakhya exit poll on Wednesday injected fresh uncertainty into Tamil Nadu's political landscape, predicting a tightly contested three-way battle among the DMK-led alliance, the AIADMK-led bloc, and...
Bengal not a cliffhanger, BJP ahead in 3 exit polls; one projects win for Mamata
New Delhi: Out of four exit polls, three agencies have projected a comfortable victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the Trinamool Congress in the keenly contested Assembly elections...
BJP’s Pravesh Wahi elected Delhi Mayor with sweeping mandate
New Delhi: Pravesh Wahi, BJP councillor from Rohini E ward, was elected as the new Mayor of Delhi on Wednesday, securing a decisive victory with a landslide margin. The...
Bengal polls: Central forces baton charge agitated Trinamool activists targeting Suvendu Adhikari
Kolkata: The central forces deployed at Bhabanipur Assembly constituency in South Kolkata, which is witnessing the electoral battle between West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Suvendu Adhikari, the Leader...
‘Never seen such brutal ECI’: Sudip Bandyopadhyay confident of Trinamool crossing 250
New Delhi: Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay on Wednesday criticised the conduct of the Election Commission of India (ECI) during polling in West Bengal, while expressing confidence that Chief Minister...
‘This is not development but destruction’: Rahul Gandhi after visiting Great Nicobar Island
New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday launched a sharp attack on the Centre’s Great Nicobar Island development project after visiting the region, describing it as “one of the...
Confident of my victory even in booth where Bengal CM, her nephew cast votes: Suvendu Adhikari
Kolkata: The Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, said on Wednesday that he is confident of his success even in the polling booth in Bhabanipur constituency...
BJP’s intention is to forcefully rig elections: CM Mamata
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday claimed that the BJP wants to "forcefully rig" the Assembly elections in the state, stating that the election observers, "brought from...
After Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia on ‘Satyagraha’ in Delhi liquor case
New Delhi : AAP leader and former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has joined his party's national convener, ex-CM Arvind Kejriwal, in escalating their legal and political fight in...
Gujarat local poll results: BJP takes early lead across civic, rural bodies
Gandhinagar :Early trends in the counting of votes for Gujarat’s local body elections on Tuesday showed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) taking a decisive lead across urban and rural bodies,...
