Nana Patole: Rebel leader Vishal Patil will stay with Congress

Rebel Congress leader Vishal Patil, who won Sangli Lok Sabha seat as an independent, confirms he will stay with Congress, says Maharashtra Congress chief

Mumbai: Rebel Congress leader Vishal Patil, who won the Sangli Lok Sabha seat as an independent candidate, will remain with the Congress, said Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on Wednesday. Patole added that Patil has clarified that he will remain part of the party.

Congress rebel Vishal Patil (UDAY DEOLEKAR)

“Yesterday, after winning the polls, Vishal declared that he would remain with Congress, after which there is nothing left to say more,” Patole said in response to a question on Patil.

Patil won the Lok Sabha polls with a margin of 1,00,053 votes, defeating the BJP heavyweight and two-term MP, Sanjaykaka Patil. Patil’s triumph came at a time when there was an assumption that the BJP MP would win the fight between Patil and MVA candidate Chandrahar Patil.

Despite Congress’ insistence, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray declared Chandrahar Patil’s name as the MVA candidate, and Vishal Patil, whose name was cleared by the Congress leadership for Lok Sabha polls, chose to contest as an independent candidate.

It is pertinent to know that Congress took no action against Vishal even after he rebelled against the party’s decision to leave the seat for Shiv Sena (UBT) as part of a seat-sharing deal. The leadership remained silent despite multiple demands from Shiv Sena (UBT) to act against the young leader. He was also seen at a recent party gathering organised by the Sangli district unit.

Vishwajeet Kadam, Congress MLA from Palus-Kadegaon assembly constituency, who controls the party in Sangli district, also said that Patil is with the Congress and will remain with the party in the coming days. “See, ‘rebel candidate’ is a technical term. He (Vishal Patil) is a Congress as well as an MVA candidate. He will stay with the party and MVA,” Kadam told reporters.

Coming from a politically influential family in Maharashtra, Vishal’s grandfather, Vasantdada Patil, was a Congress stalwart who was a three-time chief minister of Maharashtra and a Lok Sabha MP. His father, Prakashbapu Patil, was a five-time Lok Sabha MP, while his elder brother Pratik was also elected twice to the Lok Sabha from the Sangli Lok Sabha seat.