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‘People of Sangli believe I’m the true Congress candidate,' says Vishal Patil
Updated On: 30 April, 2024 05:01 AM IST | Sangli | Ranjeet Jadhav
Independent Vishal Patil terms contest for constituency a straight fight between BJP and himself
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Independent candidate Vishal Patil at his residence. Pic/Anurag Ahire
As this Lok Sabha seat gears up for a three-way battle, Vishal Patil, the Independent candidate and grandson of former chief minister Vasant Dada Patil, is making sure to reach out to all villagers and is meeting with prominent families in his constituency. In an interview with mid-day, the Congress rebel, who is lovingly referred to by his followers as Vishal Dada, tells us that the fight in Sangli is between him and the BJP.
What do you think is the reason for a three-way fight in this constituency?
There are 20 aspirants in the fray, so I don’t think it’s a three-way fight. I believe it’s a straight fight between the BJP and me, who is the candidate of the people. The other candidates aren’t even close enough to say that they are contesting the seat. People are fed up with the sitting MP and there is double anti-incumbency, one of the BJP and second of the candidate.
Did Congress request you to withdraw your candidature? In Kolhapur, a Congress rebel was expelled from the party but no disciplinary action has been taken against you.
I have discussed this before on various forums. My name had been approved by the Congress CEC [Central Election Committee] and I should have been declared the candidate. However, as per the seat-sharing arrangement with allies, Sangli went to the Shiv Sena (UBT). The latter party was claiming that they had the seat long before it even had been finalised. It’s ironic that Shiv Sena (UBT) now claims that Congress should follow ‘aghadi dharma’.
The problem with Bajirao Khade, the former AICC representative from Maharashtra, is that he is contesting against the Congress candidate from Kolhapur [Shahu Chhatrapati]. I’m not fighting against a Congress candidate and if the party decided that I should not contest the seat and another candidate should contest from here, I would very happily campaign for them. In fact, I would be leading that campaign. Unfortunately, the Congress has been cheated here and everyone in the party clearly believes this. However, maybe they are under some kind of pressure to follow ‘aghadi dharma’.
You are fighting against a two-time BJP MP, Sanjaykaka Patil. How do you plan to stop him from winning?
He has a good way of bluffing and he keeps doing that. Mostly, the works he talks about are funded by the state government. As an MP, he has failed miserably to bring any kind of funds to the district from the Centre. Yes, being a parliamentarian, he automatically gets invited to a lot of groundbreaking ceremonies if works are carried out by local MLAs and the state government. He tries the portray them as his work, but people are very smart and they know what exactly is happening. He also tends to lie that he has a lot of support on the ground and he is well-connected with the people. If you roam the constituency, you will realise that he has not visited more than 50 per cent of villages in the past five years.
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