Mumbai: The Mahayuti constituents BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP are facing tough challenges on seat sharing for the Assembly election even before their formal talks have begun. Former Maharashtra minister and BJP leader Harshwardhan Patil has started his preparations to contest the Indapur seat, which is currently represented by Datta Bharane of the NCP. Ajit Pawar’s party is not ready to give up the seat at any cost. Patil is planning to contest the seat as a candidate of his own ‘Indapur Vikas Aghadi’ or join the Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP. Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule said that if Patil has decided to quit the party, they cannot stop him.
Harshwardhan Patil, who was in Congress party and shifted his loyalty to the BJP in September 2019, is now looking again at a new platform to re-launch himself in parliamentary politics. After winning four consecutive elections from the Indapur constituency from 1995 to 2009, Patil lost the Assembly seat twice in 2014 and 2019.
According to the sources, Patil has held a meeting with the state leadership of the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) over his induction into the party. However, he has been asked to wait as Sharad Pawar is yet to give his consent for the same.
Apart from Patil, another BJP leader Samarjeet Ghatge from Kolhapur district in Western Maharashtra is also going to shift his loyalty to the NCP (SP). In the 2019 Assembly election, NCP (undivided) leader Hasan Mushrif had defeated Mr Ghatge, who had contested the election from Kagal constituency as an independent. Following his defeat, Mr. Ghatge had joined the BJP. After the Ajit Pawar-led NCP joined the BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena government, Mushrif became a cabinet minister. This has forced Ghatge to shift his loyalty. The Sources said that Mr. Ghatge had also met the NCP leaders and his name is almost finalized for Kagal constituency.
A senior NCP (SP) leader, requesting anonymity, told this newspaper that as the date of state Assembly election is not being announced, the induction of the BJP leaders from western Maharashtra is being delayed. “Once the date of the Assembly election is announced, many BJP leaders including Harshwardhan Patil and Samarjeetsinh Ghatge and some leaders from the Ajit Pawar faction will join NCP (SP),” he claimed.
When asked about these political developments, Mr Bawankule told the reporters that he cannot stop anyone who has decided to shift his loyalty from the BJP and explore alternatives to fulfill their own political aspirations. “Our leaders, who had contested the last Assembly election on those seats, which are being held by the NCP, do not want to remain in the party. But we will request them not to leave BJP. If someone has made up their mind to quit BJP we cannot stop them. But we will urge them to show patience and the party will take some decisions for them,” the state BJP president said.
