Sharad Pawar to field new candidate from Satara LS constituency

As sitting member of parliament (MP) from Satara, Shrinivas Patil, has refused to contest the Lok Sabha (LS) elections due to health issues, NCP’s Sharad Pawar said he will field a new candidate from Satara in the next couple of days.

In Satara on Friday, Sharad Pawar conducted a meeting with party (NCP Sharadchandra Pawar) workers wherein Patil refused to contest the LS polls citing his age and health condition. Thereafter, Sharad Pawar announced, “Sitting MP Shrinivas Patil is not willing to contest the elections. There are three-four candidates who are willing. The party and Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) will discuss this and decide in the next two to three days.”

Sharad Pawar named the candidates willing to contest the LS polls as Shashikant Shinde, Balasaheb Patil, Sunil Mane and Satyajit Patil.

Shrinivas Patil is a former administrative officer and even served as Sikkim governor. He was district collector of Pune district. After leaving service, he joined politics and remained loyal to Sharad Pawar throughout his political career. Shrinivas Patil and Sharad Pawar have been close friends for the last many years. In the last general election, Shrinivas Patil won against Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Udayan Raje Bhosale from the Satara constituency. At that time, Sharad Pawar’s public rally in the rain in Satara proved historic and drummed up huge support for Shrinivas Patil.

This time, Udayan Raje Bhosale’s BJP candidature is almost final and he has started campaigning for the LS elections. Whereas, NCP Sharadchandra Pawar has to declare a new candidate from the Satara constituency in the next few days. Meanwhile, speculation is rife that NCP Ajit Pawar has given the Satara seat to the BJP and is demanding the Nashik LS constituency in exchange. Rumour has it that NCP Sharadchandra Pawar is considering giving the Satara ticket to former chief minister and Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan.

Asked about the Madha LS constituency which also falls in Satara district, Sharad Pawar told media persons, “I proposed to give this seat to the Dhangar community. But the situation changed and the MVA will now take a decision about Madha very soon.”