Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, on Sunday, visited Solapur, which emerged as COVID-19 epicentre, and reviewed its containment strategy in the presence of Public Health Minister Rajesh Tope and District Guardian Minister Dattatray Bharne. The district has reported 5,318 cases, of which 2,433 have recovered, 2,502 are active and 382 have succumbed to the virus so far.
Pawar, who had recently held meetings in his home district Pune and Satara apart from his regular interaction with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray during the pandemic, chose to visit Solapur as it has been his party’s stronghold since its inception. However, since 2014, the party lost its pre-eminence in the district. Veteran leader and former deputy CM Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil and his son Ranjitsinh Mohite-Patil deserted the party to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The party lost Madha lok sabha seats and a few assembly seats after facing humiliating defeat in civic and local bodies.
Pawar, before attending the meeting on COVID-19, made it a point to visit party workers at Malshiras tehsil, which is Mohite-Patil's hometurf, to win over the latter's opponents in the NCP. He met the families of Ramesh Patil, who is Pawar's strong supporter and Mohite-Patil's opponent. The party chief also took out time to meet rivals Dr Ramdas Deshmukh and Uttam Jankar in a bid to checkmate the former deputy CM. This is Pawar's maiden visit to the district after Mohite-Patil was included by the BJP in the state executive and his son Ranjitsinh was elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Council.
Pawar also attended a small function organised by the party's Solapur district unit to distribute foodgrains to the needy during the present lockdown.
Today's visit was Pawar's calculated move to send a message to BJP and Mohite-Patil camp that he was committed to revive NCP and win over those who were unhappy with the party in the past. For Pawar, regaining his control is important, as Solapur is one of the important sugar producing districts and also vibrant in the cooperative sector. Mohite-Patil's pocketborough Malshiras gram panchayat is recognised at the national level for higher milk collection from farmers in the cooperative sector.
