Kolhapur: The Congress strongholds in western Maharashtra are crumbling one after the other.On Saturday, Congress gave up its claim to Sangli Lok Sabha constituency, which it represented till 2014, to its ally Swabhimani Paksha. Interestingly, Swabhimani Paksha has announced the candidature of Vishal Patil, grandson of former chief minister late Vasantdada Patil.“My grandfather also wanted to launch a farmers’ outfit. Swabhimani Paksha have similar ideology and agenda as that of Congress and I am happy to get its nomination,” said Vishal.Sangli constituency was considered the home turf of the family of Vasantdada Patil. They did not join hands with Sharad Pawar when he floated NCP in 1999.Recently, Vasantdada’s other grandson, Pratik Patil, who was elected to the Parliament in 2009, quit the Congress. He was upset that the party had decided to give up the seat to Swabhimani Paksha. His decision came in the wake of similar actions by members of the Vikhe Patil family of Ahmednagar and Mohite Patil of Solapur. All three families have long been loyal to Congress ideology.Patil is a Congress leader and had sought ticket from Congress party. However, to accommodate Swabhimani Paksha in the alliance, Congress left Sangli’s seat from its quota to Swabhimani. The top leaders of Congress remained adamant to leave the seat for Swabhimani even after Pratik Patil, former union minister and elder brother of Vishal left the party criticising party president Rahul Gandhi.Raju Shetti, president of Swabhimani Paksha, held deliberations with local leaders of his party before agreeing on offering the ticket to Vishal. There will be a straight fight between him and Bharatiya Janata Party’s Sanjay Patil, the sitting MP of Sangli. Vishal will formally join Swabhimani before filling the nomination on April 2.“This the golden mean we have reached after deliberations. Vishal Patil will the candidate of our alliance of 56 parties. He will contest on symbol of Swabhimani Paksha. Local leaders of my party too have agreed to support him,” Shetti told the media on Saturday in Sangli.Shetti said that he never insisted on Sangli seat; however, had left the decision to Congress leaders. After Kolhapur, Swabhimani Paksha has sizeable presence in Sangli district, mostly in the sugar cane region.

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