MUMBAI: In a surprising move, former Maharashtra Congress chief minister's grandson Vishal Patil filed his nomination to contest as an independent candidate in the Sangali Lok Sabha seat on Tuesday.
Vishal Patil before filing the nomination addressed his loyalists and said that he never thought there would come a situation where he would have to leave the Congress party.
However, Patil said that the people of Sangali urged him to contest the polls against sitting BJP MP Sanjay Kaka Patil and to defeat the policies of his tyrannical rule.
“We used all official channels to get the ticket, but in alliance, we did not get the ticket therefore decided to fight as an independent against the BJP Lok Sabha MP. My fight is not against any one, but against the tyranny of the BJP and failure of its candidate. Our area is lagging behind in development due to inefficient BJP Lok Sabha MP. We cannot miss this opportunity this time,” said Vishal Patil before filing his nominations.
Patil will be contesting against the Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Chandrahat Patil who is in alliance with the Congress party in Maharashtra and sitting BJP MP Sanjay Kaka Patil.
During the seat sharing talks, the Maharashtra Congress which has formed an alliance with the Uddhav Thackery led Shiv Sena (UBT) had demanded the Sangali seat.
Former Congress minister Vishwajit Patil fought for Vishal Patil and even had a meeting with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, however, Uddhav Thackeray was not willing to relinquish the Sangali Lok Sabha seat.
Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena (UBT) argued that the party has already given away its traditional Kolhapur and Ramtek Lok Sabha seats to the Congress party and thus it intended to keep the Sangali seat.
Meanwhile, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is also facing similar unrest in Bhiwandi and Mumbai South central Lok Sabha seat among the Congress cadres, both seats conceded to alliance partners NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT) respectively.
“The Congress leaders of Bhiwandi and Mumbai South central may revolt against the official candidate of MVA. In alliance, Congress party got the row deal (17 Lok Sabha seats) despite the national party while Shiv Sena (UBT) got sweet deal with highest 21 Lok Sabha seats in total 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra. Therefore, the anger and unrest is natural,” said a senior Congress leader, requesting anonymity.