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Lok Sabha Elections 2019: BJP supporter Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Kakade likely to join Congress
Lok Sabha Elections 2019; Sujay Vikhe Patil is reportedly keen on joining the BJP if Congress and NCP’s talks for the exchange of Ahmednagar seat failed. He met BJP leader and state minister Girish Mahajan on Friday and expressed his willingness.
Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Kakade, who is an associate member of the BJP, is likely to be a Congress candidate from Pune after he formally announced that he was switching loyalties on Sunday. Kakade is likely to be pitted against sitting BJP MP Anil Shirole or Pune’s guardian minister and state minister for food and civil supplies Girish Bapat.
On the other hand, Sujay Vikhe Patil, son of leader of Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil (Congress) has kept his options of joining BJP open even if Congress fails to get Ahmednagar constituency from NCP and field him from it.
Kakade, who was elected to Rajya Sabha as an independent with support from Congress and NCP in 2014, later joined hands with BJP as an associate member. The leading realtor in Pune, Kakade is seen to be very close to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and had played a key role in winning Pune Municipal Corporation in 2017. However, owing to differences with Bapat, the corporators close to him were reportedly sidelined while sharing power in the municipal corporation. This led to the widening of the rift between BJP’s local leadership and Kakade.
Kakade said on Sunday that in the given circumstances, Congress is the most suitable party for him. “If given candidature, I will fight the election to the best of my ability to win the seat. I have my term until 2020 and I am ready to perform the task given to me by the party president. Congress has a rich heritage and is inclusive in nature,” he said.
Pune city is dominated by Maratha and Brahmin voters. Kakade is banking on Maratha votes and feels that it would be easy if Bapat, who is a Brahmin, is pitted against him. “I will take lead of about 50,000 votes in Bapat’s Assembly constituency. I would love to take on the guardian minister,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sujay Vikhe Patil is reportedly keen on joining the BJP if Congress and NCP’s talks for the exchange of Ahmednagar seat failed. He met BJP leader and state minister Girish Mahajan on Friday and expressed his willingness. The BJP leaders are keen in inducting Sujay, while Congress too is hopeful in getting the Ahmednagar exchanged with NCP.
In another development, NCP has reportedly finalised the name of Parth Pawar, son of former deputy chief minister and Sharad Pawar’s grand-nephew from Maval constituency, which is spread across Raigad and Pune districts. Sharad Pawar had initially opposed his candidature, but tparty leaders, including Ajit Pawar, succeeded in convincing him, saying that winning prospects would improve if Parth was the party candidate.
