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NCP (SP) hoping for electoral advantage amid crackdown on candidates
NCP (SP) state president Jayant Patil, while addressing a rally in Madha, said that efforts are being made to arrest Shashikant Shinde
With the action taken by enforcement agencies against Nationalist Congress Party/NCP (SP) nominees: Shashikant Shinde from Satara, Dhairyasheel Mohite Patil from Madha, and Abhijit Patil from Pandharpur; party leaders are hoping for potential advantage through sympathy in the polls.
NCP (SP) state president Jayant Patil, while addressing a rally in Madha, said that efforts are being made to arrest Shashikant Shinde. “Instead of fighting and defeating him on the ground, they are trying to arrest and defeat him. If anything, it will so happen that he will win the election by a double margin. They are also trying to arrest Abhijit Patil who is taking efforts for Sharad Pawar and Dhairyasheel Mohite Patil.”
Jayant Patil further said that to register a case against or arrest a candidate during the elections is nothing but breach of the code of conduct. “They can do these things even after the election. If they arrest our candidate/s, it will be difficult for their leaders to roam around in western Maharashtra due to public anger,” Jayant Patil said.
Friday night, the economic offences wing (EOW) of the Navi Mumbai police lodged a police complaint against Shashikant Shinde along with 24 directors and members of the Vashi Market Committee for misappropriation of ₹62 crore worth of floor space index (FSI) since 2009. Shashikant Shinde is locked in a battle with Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) nominee, Udayanraje Bhosale, in Satara.
According to the police, the accused are involved in financial misappropriation by allocating surplus FSI to traders in the spice market by passing resolutions in the board meeting. Immediately after filing the police complaint against Shashikant Shinde, there was speculation about the arrest of Shashikant Shinde amid the Lok Sabha elections.
While campaigning for Shashikant Shinde on Saturday, Sharad Pawar termed the action as ‘vindictive’ “If the police goes ahead and arrests party nominee from Satara, Shashikant Shinde, the organisation will stage a stir across the state,” Sharad Pawar said. The same message was echoed by Supriya Sule at a rally in Saswad on Sunday. “The party will take to the streets across Maharashtra if action continues against its leaders,” Sule said.
Milind Bharambe, commissioner of police, Navi Mumbai police, said, “As of now, we have registered a police complaint. A decision to arrest will be taken after investigation.”
Meanwhile, when NCP (SP) Pandharpur nominee, Abhijit Patil, was campaigning for Mohite-Patil in Karmala on Friday, the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) seized 1 lakh gunny bags containing sugar from Abhijit Patil’s factory, Vitthal Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana, at Pandharpur in the ₹430-crore loan default case.
Two years ago, Abhijit Patil had won the sugar factory from Bhagirath Bhalke, son of former MLA Bharat Nana Bhalke. After that, in the first crushing season, the factory had crushed 7.80 lakh MT of sugar cane and in the second year, the factory had crushed 10.85 lakh MT of sugarcane. In 2023, Abhijit Patil joined the Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP, and Sharad Pawar announced his assembly election ticket from the Pandharpur-Mangalwedha constituency. Since then, Abhijit Patil has been a close associate of Sharad Pawar in the Solapur district.
Abhijit Patil said, “Since the last three to four months, the bank action was underway and we also approached the DRT court. But on Thursday, the court overturned the stay order and immediately on Friday, the bank seized three of our sugar godowns. Because of this, we are now in trouble…”
Later on Friday night, Abhijit Patil called a meeting of his followers and explained to them the situation. Sources said that the workers told Abhijit Patil to save the factory and that whatever decision he took, they would follow. “After the bank action, we called a meeting to find a solution. Workers were given the freedom to take any decision in order to save our factory. But as of now, I have not decided anything,’’ Abhijit Patil said.
