His ‘invisible hand’ helped Sule win Baramati LS seat: Harshvardhan

Pune: After joining the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) in the presence of the party president Sharad Pawar and other leaders like Supriya Sule and Jayant Patil, former Maharashtra minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Harshvardhan Patil on Monday said that he had an ”invisible hand” in helping Sule win the Baramati Lok Sabha (LS) seat in 2024.

Harshvardhan had earlier publicly assured Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Ajit Pawar of assisting to ensure the victory of the latter’s wife, Sunetra Pawar, in the recent LS polls.

Sule managed to secure lead in five of the six assembly segments under Baramati Lok Sabha constituency and register a win against her sister-in-law Sunetra by 158,333 votes. In Indapur, Sule managed to get a lead of 25,951 votes.

“We are proud that Supriya Sule has become MP for the fourth time from Baramati. During the past three polls, we directly participated in her victory. In the recent LS polls, our participation was invisible,” he said.

The BJP has reacted sharply to Harshvardhan’s statement, suggesting that his comment may be a wake-up call for the Sharad Pawar-led NCP. “The statement by Harshvardhan is shocking for the NCP (SP), especially considering his disloyalty to the BJP, which accorded him respect and position,” said Keshav Upadhye, BJP chief spokesperson in Maharashtra.

He pointed out that Harshvardhan has allied with Sharad Pawar, despite the long-standing conflict between Pawar and Patil’s uncle, the former Baramati Lok Sabha MP Shankarrao Patil in the past.

“The alliance reveals that personal ambition and power may be his priorities, and the people will respond to this in the coming days,” said Upadhye.

Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said, “You know what he said in the past and what he is saying now. I do not want to add anything more to it now.”

Four-time Indapur MLA Harshvardhan has been aspiring to contest from the seat again.

The seat is represented by BJP’s alliance partner NCP, which is likely to field sitting MLA Dattatray Bharne again this time.

Harshvardhan, 61, has been known for switching parties in the past too. He served as the minister of state for agriculture and marketing in the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance government during 1995-99. He won the 1995 assembly election as an independent candidate. He was a minister during the Congress-NCP alliance government from 1999 to 2014. He joined the Congress in 2009 and was the minister for cooperation and parliamentary affairs.

State BJP minister Chandrakant Patil last week said Harshvardhan will regret his decision to join the senior Pawar-led party.

Those realising that they will not be fielded again (by BJP) for the assembly polls are quitting the party, he had said.