Sharad Pawar’s lunch pow-wow to boost MVA in Solapur

NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil, head of the powerful Mohite-Patil family in Solapur who had aligned with the BJP, and Congress leader and former chief minister Sushilkumar Shinde are set to meet over lunch at the residence of Mohite-Patil at Akluj in Solapur on Sunday. With the Mohite-Patil family wielding much influence among voters in Solapur district covering Solarpur seat and large parts of Madha, Sharad Pawar is expected to work out the equations to leverage that influence so the MVA wins both the seats.

The nephew of Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil, Dhairyasheel is expected to contest as NCP(SP) candidate from Madha constituency against Ranjitsinh Naik Nimbalkar while Shinde’s daughter Praniti is debuting in Lok Sabha polls from Solapur against BJP’s Ram Satpute.

In 2014, Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil was elected as MP from Madha even during the Modi wave. He was considered a close aide of Pawar but chose to leave the party after his son Ranjitsinh was denied NCP ticket for Madha Lok Sabha constituency in 2019.

Ranjitsinh joined the BJP and was elected as MLC in May 2020. Vijaysinh refrained from officially joining the BJP. With the help of Mohite-Patil family, BJP wrested the seat from NCP in 2019. “He (Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil) has invited Pawar saheb and Shinde saheb and other leaders for lunch. They have been friends for 60 years,” Dhairyasheel said, confirming the development on Saturday.

The sugar baron family headed by former deputy chief minister Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil has supported Dhaiyasheel’s switch from the BJP. This is despite Vijaysinh’s son and Dhairyasheel’s cousin Ranjitsinh being a BJP MLC. With the support of the Mohite-Patil family, Pawar will try to recover lost ground in western Maharashtra.

Political analyst Abhay Deshpande said: “The politics of Solapur district revolves around the Mohite-Patil family as the influence of Sushilkumar Shinde is limited to urban areas only.” Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar, another Pawar loyalist who shifted loyalty to Ajit Pawar during the split in NCP, has also opposed Ranjitsinh Naik Nimbalkar’s candidature. He went on to say that he should not be held responsible if the BJP candidate is defeated in the Lok Sabha elections. He has influence in Phaltan assembly segment that falls under Madha constituency.

On Saturday, his brother Raghunathraje met Dhairyasheel and extended his support to him.