Nilesh Lanke of NCP (SP), who defeated BJP's sitting MP Sujay Vikhe Patil from Ahmednagar in the Lok Sabha polls, on Saturday met Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray.
The NCP (SP), Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Congress comprise the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which fought the Lok Sabha polls in alliance.
Talking to reporters after meeting Thackeray at his residence, Lanke said he had assured the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief the MVA will win all 12 MLA seats in Ahmednagar district.
Lanke said before taking oath as an MP he wanted to take blessings of the seat Sena founder Bal Thackeray occupied from the place where he started his political career. The chair is placed in the residence of the Thackerays.
For Lanke it was a sort of homecoming as it was from the undivided Shiv Sena that he started his political career as 'shakha pramukh' and rose to become a 'taluka pramukh'. He later moved to the NCP, becoming an aide of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. In 2019, he was elected as an MLA from Parner.
After the split in the NCP in July last year, he aligned with Ajit Pawar, but switched sides to join the Sharad Pawar-led NCP which fielded him from Ahmednagar in the Lok Sabha polls, results of which were announced on June 4.
On his BJP opponent Vikhe-Patil's decision to apply for verification of 40 EVMs, Lanke said some people don't accept defeat.
The decision to apply for a verification of 40 Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in Ahmednagar was more to calm down BJP workers following his defeat rather than a personal wish, Vikhe-Patil had said on Friday.
