Meet Satej Patil: The man behind Congress’ victory in Kolhapur

Satej (50), who is popularly known as Bunty, is the son of education baron and former Bihar governor DY Patil

Mumbai: The Congress was pitched against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a prestige battle for the Kolhapur (North) assembly constituency, however, there was a larger Patil v/s Patil battle that was playing out behind the scenes.

Governor of Maharashtra K.Sankaranarayanan Will Present The President’s Police Medals And Police Medals For Meritorious And Distinguished Service To 76 Police Officers And Police Personnel At An Investiture Ceremony At Darbar Hall, Raj Bhavan On Occasion Shri Prithviraj Chavan, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shri Ajitdada Pawar, Deputy Chief Minister, Shri R. R. Patil, Minister for Home, Shri Satej Patil, Minister of State for Home, Shri K. Subramaniam, Director General of Police,Arup Patnayak,Chief Of Mumbai Police And Other...HT Photo

On Saturday, when the results were announced, Jayshri Jadhav of the Congress defeated Satyajit (Nana) Kadam of the BJP, implying that the minister of state for home and Congress leader Satej Patil had scored over Chandrakant Patil, the state BJP president. The two were leading the campaign for their respective parties in the constituency. Right from the selection of the candidate to handling the campaign, Satej handled the responsibility of the byelection.

The Congress was helped by allies Shiv Sena and NCP as the combined strength of the parties proved beneficial for the former.

A mild-mannered Patil ensured that local NCP leader and rural development minister Hasan Mushrif and Sena leader Rajesh Kshirsagar (who was MLA from the constituency before Congress won it in 2019) were on board during the campaign. The seat is a Sena stronghold. The party had won five of seven elections till 2019. Though some Sainiks were upset at conceding the seat to the Congress, the MVA leadership manage to bring them around as a loss in this bypoll would have been a major embarrassment for it.

Satej (50), who is popularly known as Bunty, is the son of education baron and former Bihar governor DY Patil.

After launching himself in the student politics of the Shivaji (Kolhapur) University, he launched his co-operative sugar factory at the age of 27 in 2000. The father of two emerged as a giant killer by defeating former health minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Digvijay Khanvilkar from the erstwhile Karveer constituency in 2004. Khanvilkar had represented the seat for five-terms in the assembly. Satej had then fought as an independent with support from the Shiv Sena and BJP. He later switched to the Congress and became the minister of state for home in the erstwhile Congress-NCP government. Along with another young minister Rajendra Mulak, Satej was seen as being part of the inner circle of then chief minister Prithviraj Chavan.

In 2014, Satej faced a shock defeat from the Kolhapur (South) seat at the hands of BJP candidate Amal Mahadik, the son of local strongman Mahadeorao Mahadik, who is heavily invested in local politics. However, in 2015, he defeated Mahadeorao in the elections to the state legislative council from the Kolhapur local bodies seat. Satej and the Mahadiks were together in 2004, but fell out later.

Though the Congress and NCP were allies in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Satej openly campaigned for the Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Mandlik against NCP candidate Dhananjay (Munna) Mahadik, who is Mahadeorao’s nephew. The slogan: “Aamcha Tharlay” or we have made up our mind, indicating the deal between Mandlik and Satej, had become popular. Eventually, Mandlik, the son of former NCP MP late Sadashivrao Mandlik eventually defeated Mahadik. In the assembly polls held later, Satej’s nephew Ruturaj, the son of his brother Sanjay, trounced Amal.

Satej, who is also the guardian minister for Kolhapur, was leading the charge for the Congress in the Kolhapur (North) bypoll, while Chandrakant Patil, who hails from Kolhapur, yet has been elected as an MLA from the party stronghold of Kothrud in Pune, led the BJP’s campaign. Despite his roots in the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and presence in state politics, Chandrakant has often been derided by his opponents for not having a base in his home district.

In 2019, the BJP and Shiv Sena, which had fought the elections together, had to face the ire of the masses after massive floods in the district. This led to the saffron alliance facing electoral reverses. After being made a minister in the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) regime, Satej held the fort for the Congress in Kolhapur and worked to corner the BJP, which had made inroads in the region riding on the base of imports to the party like the Mahadiks. In a shot in the arm, Satej, NCP leader and rural development minister Hasan Mushrif and Mandlik managed to displace Mahadik, and by extension, the BJP from the control of the cash-rich Gokul milk federation last year.

On Saturday, when the results were declared, senior Congress leader and revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat credited Satej and Shiv Sena leaders from the constituency for the victory.

“People of Kolhapur have rejected the polarisation tactics of the BJP. We have unitedly upheld the real values of the Indian Constitution. This victory is a testimony of what a united MahaVikas Aghadi can achieve,” Patil tweeted after the results were declared on Saturday.