Speculation has been rife over the past few days that Harshvardhan Patil may switch sides, most likely to the NCP (SP), to contest Maharashtra Assembly polls
Harshvardhan Patil with Devendra Fadnavis. File pic
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Harshvardhan Patil on Saturday said he would take a decision on contesting the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly polls from his traditional Indapur seat in Pune's Baramati tehsil after 'Pitru Paksha' is over, news agency PTI reported.
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Speculation has been rife over the past few days that Patil may switch sides, most likely to the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), to contest the Maharashtra Assembly polls.
While Patil had won from Indapur in the 1995, 1999, 2004 and 2009 polls both as an Independent candidate as well as on a Congress ticket, in 2014 and 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls, the seat was won by NCP's Dattatray Bharne.
Patil had lost to Bharne in the 2019 Maharashtra assembly polls by a margin of 3,110 votes.
Bharne is now with the Ajit Pawar faction of NCP, which is part of the ruling alliance along with BJP and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena.
While the seat-sharing formula has not been finalised in the ruling alliance, it is likely that the Indapur seat will go to the NCP if the parties get seats on which they have sitting Members of Legislative Assemblies (MLA).
Speaking to reporters in Baramati, Patil said, "For the past few days, I have been holding a 'janata darbar (public interaction)' in my constituency. Many persons are insisting that I contest the upcoming assembly polls from Indapur. As I consider the opinion of people to be supreme in a democracy, I need to take a decision. I will take a decision on these demands of my constituency persons once Pitru paksha is over."
Pitru paksha is a 16-lunar day period in the Hindu calendar when people pay respects to their ancestors and it is generally considered inauspicious to start something new during this time.
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