Former Maharashtra Minister Harshvardhan Patil, who quit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday, is set to join the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) on Monday, October 7 at an event on Market Committee Ground at Indapur in Pune district.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), NCP (SP) Maharashtra Chief Jayant Patil wrote, "I heartily welcome Harshvardhan Patil's decision to join NCP (SP). In the presence of party chief Sharad Pawar, he will officially join the party on October 7 in Indapur."
Patil, who has been elected as an MLA four times from the Indapur Assembly seat, aspires to contest again. The seat is currently held by the BJP's alliance partner, the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, which is likely to field sitting MLA Dattatray Bharne again this time.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Patil revealed that before deciding to quit the BJP, he met Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. He also stated that Fadnavis had offered him "another option."
"I had a meeting with Fadnavis regarding my political stance. We had a detailed discussion for over two and a half hours. Since the Indapur seat is going to the sitting MLA from Mahayuti, he (Fadnavis) assured me of another option. Although the option would have been feasible for me, it would not have been acceptable to my supporters and the people from my constituency," said Patil, adding that he then held a meeting with his supporters and decided to join the NCP (SP) along with them.
