Just ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly elections, former minister Harshvardhan Patil quit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday and announced his decision to join the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar). Patil's announcement came a day after he met Sharad Pawar at the latter's residence in Mumbai.
Patil, who has been elected as an MLA four times from the Indapur Assembly seat in Pune district, 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, Patil revealed that before making this decision, he met senior BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. He also stated that Fadnavis had offered him "another option." "I had a meeting with Deputy Chief Minister Devendra 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.
The formal induction ceremony is likely to be held on October 7 in Indapur.
