NCP leader’s son leaves party, may get state BJP seat

This is the second instance, in as many weeks, of a scion of a family that has played a key role in the Congress-NCP alliance, jumping ship to join the BJP.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) lost a longstanding member to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Maharashtra on Tuesday. Ranjitsinh Mohite Patil, the son of senior NCP leader, former deputy chief minister and member of Parliament (MP) Vijaysinh Mohite Patil, will join the BJP on Wednesday.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) lost a longstanding member to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Maharashtra on Tuesday. Ranjitsinh Mohite Patil, the son of senior NCP leader, former deputy chief minister and member of Parliament (MP) Vijaysinh Mohite Patil, will join the BJP on Wednesday. (PTI)

This is the second instance, in as many weeks, of a scion of a family that has played a key role in the Congress-NCP alliance, jumping ship to join the BJP. Last week, Sujay Vikhe-Patil, the son of Congress member and leader of Opposition, Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, moved to the BJP to get a Lok Sabha seat from the Ahmednagar constituency.

Ranjitsinh is likely to get a BJP ticket from the Madha constituency in Solapur, currently represented by his father. The NCP leadership had not committed to giving this seat to the family. Ranjitsinh announced his move at a public meeting in his home turf, Solapur’s Akluj town. “The CM has assured me that the BJP will stand by our side,” he said.

“I will join the BJP in Mumbai tomorrow (Wednesday),’’ he said.

He also praised PM Modi’s leadership. While his father, Vijaysinh Mohite Patil, supported the decision, he did not talk about joining the BJP himself.

Vijaysinh Mohite Patil was a former deputy chief minister of Maharashtra during the Congress-NCP’s regime. He had managed to win the Madha seat even during the Modi wave of 2014. But so far, the NCP had given neither father nor son a ticket from the sear, owing to rivalry within party factions in the constituency. There have also been several differences between the Mohite Patils and the Pawar family over the decades — although Vijaysinh Mohite Patil joined Sharad Pawar when he formed NCP in 1999, he was never happy with the deal he got. Pawar made him deputy chief minister only in 2003, and only for a year. When there was talk of Mohite Patil building bridges with the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance, Sharad Pawar and his nephew, Ajit, tried to cut him to size and weaned away his supporting legislators in the Solapur district. The party top brass also encouraged his rivals within the party.

Vijaysinh Mohit Patil’s aides said he wanted his son to be given a legislative council berth , but the party leadership ignored this demand. “The NCP top brass did not keep up its promise,’’ said a leader close to the Mohite Patils.

A senior NCP leader, however, said the seat was not allotted yet because internal surveys showed Vijaysinh Mohite Patil may not win a second term from Madha. “The party could not overlook the strong opposition to Vijaysinh’s name from within the party. We don’t want to lose the seat,” the leader said. “This is the reason the Mohite Patils were told the party may not be able to give Vijaysinh a seat this time.”

Ranjitsinh Mohit Patil’s move outs the NCP in a tight spot in a constituency that for years was an assured win — the Madha constituency was represented by Sharad Pawar between 2009 and 2014, and then Vijaysinh Mohite Patil from 2014 to 2019). With Ranjitsinh Mohite Patil’s move to the BJP, this could change. Currently, of the six Assembly constituencies in Madha, NCP has three legislators; Congress, Sena and Peasants and Workers Party have one legislator each; and the BJP has no presence.

Ranjitsinh Mohite Patil’s move comes after more than a month of talks with BJP leader and state water resources minister Girish Mahajan, who was also instrumental in getting Sujay Vikhe Patil on board the BJP. After Ranjitsinh Mohit Patil’s announcement, CM Fadnavis said, “Many influential opposition leaders in Maharashtra are keen on joining the BJP. I don’t want to speak too much on this. Aage aage dekho, hota hai kya (wait and watch what happens next).’’

Another NCP leader, Bharati Pawar, is also expected to join the BJP in the coming days. Bharati Pawar was an NCP candidate from the Dindori constituency in North Maharashtra,and the BJP is looking for a fresh face in Dindori as their surveys about sitting MP Harishchandra Chavan are not positive. A Congress legislator from western Maharashtra is also likely to join the BJP.

NCP leaders were cautious while reacting to the development. Nawab Malik, NCP’s spokesperson said, “Everyone has the right to choose their own path. We don’t know what forced him to take this decision. However, the NCP can still win Madha constituency in the polls.”

The NCP is considering giving the party ticket to a former NCP leader and the brother of sitting party legislator from Madha, Baban Shinde. Baban and his brother Sanjay Shinde have been strongly against the renomination of Mohite Patil, and have considerable clout in Madha. “Sanjay Shinde has emerged as a strong leader in the constituency and has good public support,” said another senior party leader, not wishing to be named.

The party is also considering former bureaucrat, Prabhakar Deshmukh, for the constituency