The logjam between the Congress and the Raju Shetty-led Swabhimani Paksha over the candidature of the Sangli Lok Sabha constituency in western Maharashtra will be resolved in the next two days, leaders of both parties said on Tuesday.
In a meeting between Mr. Shetty, who is member of Parliament from Hatkanangale (Kolhapur), and senior Congress leader Satej ‘Bunty’ Patil, the Congress has reportedly requested Mr. Shetty not to break away from the democratic alliance on the question of the Sangli Lok Sabha seat.
According to sources, the Congress is ready to offer Mr. Shetty the Shirdi Lok Sabha seat in Ahmednagar district in the event the Sangli impasse remained unresolved.
The scions of the house of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Vasantdada Patil are miffed at the Congress granting the Sangli seat to Mr. Shetty, causing the late Mr. Patil’s grandson, former Union Minister of State and former MP Pratik Patil, to exit the party last week.
Mr. Shetty has already said his party had made an offer to Mr. Pratik Patil and his brother Vishal to contest on the Sangli seat, but that the brothers had refused.
‘Don’t want infighting’
The Swabhimani Paksha chief also made it clear that his party did not desire the seat at the cost of sparking an internal controversy within the Congress or creating ill-feeling among members of the house of the late Vasantdada Patil.
“The Swabhimani Paksha has no desire to covet a seat mired in controversy. We are aware of, and fully respect, the great legacy of Vasantdada Patil. Unfortunately, a completely misleading picture is being painted that the Swabhimani Paksha is responsible for the ‘injustice’ to the scions of the house of the late Chief Minister,” Mr. Shetty said. He said the Congress ought to offer him the Sangli seat only if internal dissensions within the party are satisfactorily resolved.
From the start of their seat-sharing talks, Mr. Shetty’s party has been demanding the Buldhana or the Wardha constituencies from the Congress. He has expressed dismay at being made an unwitting catalyst in a factional fight within the Congress.
“If we do not get the Sangli seat, the Congress is expected to give us the Shirdi LS seat. We have a candidate, Santosh Roham, who is an influential Ambedkarite leader in Ahmednagar,” said Swabhimani Paksha leader Anil Pawar.
Mr. Pawar said, in a spirit of reconciliation, Mr. Patil would be participating in Mr. Shetty’s election campaign, which will kick off from Sangli on Wednesday.
After Vasantdada Patil’s death in 1989, the Congress stronghold of Sangli in the sugar heartland of western Maharashtra was held for nearly 25 years straight in no less than six general elections by members of the house of Mr. Patil.
The seat finally fell to the BJP after Mr. Pratik Patil lost to the saffron party’s Sanjaykaka Patil in the 2014 general election. Mr. Sanjaykaka Patil has been announced as the BJP’s candidate for the constituency this time as well.