MUMBAI: Former BJP MP who had recently joined the Congress and is hoping to contest the Bhandara-Gondia by-poll scheduled for May 28, appears to have softened stand against the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) after Pawar said that his party would go with Congress only if the party is ready to honour the seat sharing arrangement of 2014.
“Praful Patel is like a brother to me. Whoever would be the candidate, we shall work together. We are firm on a BJP-mukt Bhandara-Gondia,” Patole told a local TV channel on Monday indicating a softened stand towards Patel and the NCP. Congress and the NCP shall contest the election together, he told the TV channel.
Patole, a BJP candidate back then, had won the seat in 2014 against NCP’s Patel. However, after falling out with the top BJP leadership, Patole left the party last year and joined the Congress. He was hoping to contest the by-poll. However, the Congress and the NCP haven’t reached to any agreement over who shall contest the seat.
On Sunday while speaking to party workers in Pune, while stressing on need for an alliance with the Congress, the NCP chief Sharad Pawar had also said that his party would like the Congress to honour the previous seat sharing arrangement. This would mean that the NCP would contest the Bhandara-Gondia Lok Sabha seat. NCP’s Patel, who is Rajya Sabha MP now, had won the Bhandara-Gondia seat thrice in the past.
While, Patole, whose politics in the district had always revolved around anti-Patel stand, fears that the BJP might lend a tacit support to Patel to defeat him, the other Congress leaders in the state are worried about NCP’s escalating demands over the seat.
The seat sharing arrangement for the Lok Sabha by-polls are likely to be finalised only after May 3, the last day for filing nominations for the six seats of state legislative councils that would go for polls on May 21, said a senior Congress leader in the state. He also indicated that whichever party gets to contest the by-polls next month, would most likely keep the seat for 2019 general elections.
Paghar Lok Sabha constituency that fell vacant of death of BJP MP Adv Chintaman Vanga too is scheduled to got in for by-poll on May 28. The Congress had contested the seat in 2014. Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray had announced on Sunday that his party would contest the polls.