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BJP fields Chandrakant Patil from Kothrud, will it backfire?
In Kothrud, Patil may face fight from Chandrakant Mokate, who is planning to contest polls as joint candidate of NCP-Congress-MNS
Ending speculation, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday released its first list naming the party’s Maharashtra president, Chandrakantdada Patil, from the Kothrud assembly constituency in Pune.
Patil, who hails from Kolhapur, has been given a safe seat after the party asked its key leaders to contest the polls. It was BJP chief Amit Shah and prime minister Narendra Modi who, during a key meeting in Delhi last week, asked party leaders to contest the polls rather than chose the backdoor entry through the legislative council.
Following this, the BJP began the search for a safe seat for senior party leader Chandrakant Patil with Kothrud emerging as the most friendly constituency. Known to be close to Shah, Patil has been the number two minister in the Devendra Fadnavis cabinet.
“I was asked by party leadership in Delhi to contest from Kothrud, which is not new to me. I have been coming to Pune since 1982 and I am confident that voters of Kothrud wont consider me an outsider,” said Patil on being asked about the opposition he is facing. In Kothrud, Patil may face fight from Chandrakant Mokate, who is planning to contest polls as joint candidate of NCP-Congress-MNS.
A former Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) member, Patil’s rise has been primarily attributed to his equations with the BJP president. Patil, 60, a prominent Maratha face of the BJP, is currently member of legislative council and the 2019 polls will be his first experience to face the public and seek a mandate.
As reports of Patil’s candidature from Kothrud emerged, a note of disappointment came in from the sitting Kothrud MLA Medha Kulkarni, corporators, other aspirants and many residents amid poster war emerging in the constituency. Some of the posters, put up by anonymous people, read, “We do not want outsider”.
Patil was, however, successful in convincing Kulkarni during his meeting with her on Monday evening. A teary-eyed Kulkarrni said, “We will back Chandrakantdada and ensure he wins the polls with a big margin.” However this failed to pacify many in the party as corporators and workers kept asking why had the party outsourced a leader from outside.
Dominated by Maharashtrian Brahmins, Kothrud has been with the BJP since 2014 although previously it was represented by the Shiv Sena. The strong RSS network, has, for years helped the BJP and the Sena elect their candidates from this constituency located in west Pune. In 2014, Kulkarni won the seat defeating Shiv Sena’s Chandrakant Mokate by a margin of 45,000 votes while in recently held Lok Sabha polls, Kothrud offerred lead of 1.50 lakh votes.
During 2017 civic polls, most of BJP corporators were elected from Kothrud as brahmis voted party nominees in large numbers. “I don’t think Patil has any threat in Kothrud even as there has been some opposition. It’s one of the safest seat for the party,” said Abhay Deshpande, political observer.
After Patil’s name was declared, a local Brahmin body opposed it saying BJP should have fielded the sitting MLA. “There was no need for BJP to field Patil from Pune. He is an outsider and locals won’t accept him,” said Anand Dave of Brahmin Mahasangh chief Anand Dave
