How Nana Patole helped NCP change the game in Bhandara-Gondiya

Patol resigned from the Lok Sabha and from the BJP last year.

Former Lok Sabha member Nana Patole, who questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his style of functioning, also played a vital role in the victory of Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) Madhukar Kukde in the Bhandara-Gondiya by-elections.

Nana Patole backed the NCP candidate in Bhandara-Gondiya. (HT File)

Patole campaigned the elections jointly and backed Kukde. He was visible in almost all major elections rallies and meetings during the campaign.

While resigning from the membership of Lok Sabha and as a primary member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Patole blamed the BJP for not doing anything for the benefit of the other backward communities in the country other than drumming up support for garnering votes by projecting Modi’s caste status. A member of the Kunbi community from Sukli village in Sakoli taluka of Bhandara, Patole entered politics by winning a zilla parishad seat in 1990. He then set his eyes on the state Assembly and as a Congress nominee got elected as an MLA from Sakoli in Bhandara district in 1999 and 2004.

In 2009, Patole first contested the Lok Sabha elections as an independent candidate, but lost by more than two lakh votes against NCP stalwart Praful Patel.

However, Patole drew solace from the fact that he was the runner up and got more votes than BJP’s Shishupal Patle.

Patole then switched over to the Bharatiya Janata Party and contested the Assembly elections and won from Sakoli after six months. In the 2014 elections, Patole defeated Patel by a margin of 1.49 lakh votes. He then resigned from the Lok Sabha and from the BJP in 2017.