‘Independent’ ghost back in Sangli: Congress rebel meets Jarange, his support could hurt MVA

Similar to what was witnessed in the Lok Sabha, Sangli is facing another multi-faceted fight in the assembly polls. While the BJP, which occupies the seat, has fielded its sitting MP Sudhir Gadgil, the official candidate for the Maha Vikas Aghadi is Prithviraj Patil of the Congress. However, Congress rebel Jayashree Patil has also entered the ring as an independent candidate.

Jayashree Patil on Sunday met Maratha quota activist Manoj Jaranj seeking his support in the assembly elections. Jayashree Patil is the daughter-in-law of Lok Sabha MP Vishal Patil and wife of late minister of state and prominent Congress leader Madan Patil. They belong to the family of Maharashtra Chief Minister late Vasantdada Patil.

Jayashree Patil filed her nomination as an independent candidate after the Congress announced the candidature of Prithviraj Patil from Sangli, currently represented by the BJP’s Sudhir Gadgil. Any support from Jarange could split the anti-BJP vote in Sangli and harm the MVA’s prospects.

The rebel met Jarange with her supporters and son-in-law Vishal Patil in Jalna. “We have approached Jaranj to seek his support as Jayashree aims to contest the elections as an independent candidate. She has already announced her candidature and she has a lot of support,” said Vishal’s brother and former union minister Pratik Patil.

Jayashree Patil has also asked the Election Commission to issue her the election symbol of ‘envelope’, which her son-in-law used during the Lok Sabha elections and won, sources told news agency PTI.

The Congress fielded Prithviraj when it campaigned hard against Gadgil in the 2019 assembly elections and lost by a slim margin of less than 7,000 votes.

In the recent Lok Sabha elections, Sangli, a Congress stronghold, went to Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena. However, former Congress leader Vishal Patil contested the poll as an independent candidate and won the seat. Vishal Patil defeated BJP’s Sanjaikaku Patil by over 1 lakh votes. He later lent his support to the Congress.