Vikhe-Patil family strikes back, turns tables on rivals in Ahmednagar
The Vikhe-Patil family made a dramatic comeback in the recent state assembly elections, avenging their defeat in Lok Sabha polls and ensuring their opponents faced significant setbacks
PUNE The Vikhe-Patil family, a prominent name in Maharashtra politics, made a dramatic comeback in the recent state assembly elections, avenging their previous defeat in the Lok Sabha polls and ensuring their opponents faced significant setbacks.
In the assembly election, the Mahayuti alliance clinched 10 out of 12 assembly seats in Ahmednagar district. This was a major reversal from 2019 elections when the Congress-Nationalisy Congress Party (NCP) alliance had won eight seats, an independent secured one, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Shiv Sena bagged three seats.
The political stakes were particularly high for the Vikhe-Patil family after Sujay Vikhe-Patil’s loss to NCP (SP) candidate Nilesh Lanke in the Ahmednagar Lok Sabha constituency. Sujay’s defeat had raised questions about the family’s political future. At that time, Balasaheb Thorat and other local Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders played a key role in securing Lanke’s victory, with Lanke emerging as a giant killer.
The tide turned in the recent assembly polls, with the Vikhe-Patils leading a calculated campaign to unseat their political adversaries. Sujay’s father, Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, retained the Shirdi seat he has held since 1995, defeating Congress’s Prabhavati Ghogare by a margin of over 70,000 votes, despite an intense campaign by MVA leaders.
This time, the Vikhe-Patil family orchestrated a counter-attack, ensuring the defeat of major MVA figures. Eight-time MLA and Congress stalwart Balasaheb Thorat was unseated in Sangamner, a constituency dominated by Thorat’s institutions and influence. Similarly, Nilesh Lanke’s wife, Rani, faced defeat in Parner at the hands of a fresh face Kashinath Date from NCP.
It was a tough time for the Vikhe-Patil family after the Lok Sabha loss, said Sujay. “Our political foes made numerous allegations. We waited patiently and, when the opportunity arose, delivered a fitting response in Parner and Sangamner,” he said.
Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil and Sujay reportedly worked behind the scenes to script these key defeats in Ahmednagar district. In Sangamner, Radhakrishna ensured that his loyalist, BJP worker Amol Khatal, received the Shiv Sena ticket to contest against Thorat. In Parner, they persuaded NCP rebel Vijay Auti to back official NCP candidate Kashinath Date, preventing a split in NCP’s vote base and facilitating Date’s narrow victory over Rani Lanke.
Khatal defeated Thorat by over 10,000 votes, while Date edged out Lanke by a slender margin of 1,500 votes. Thorat, who had been winning Sangamner for eight consecutive terms, had been confident of victory. Similarly, Parner, the Lankes’ stronghold since Nilesh became an MLA in 2019, witnessed an unexpected outcome.
There are also rumours within Ahmednagar district that BJP leader Ram Shinde’s defeat to NCP’s Rohit Pawar in the Karjat Jamkhed constituency may have been influenced by the Vikhe-Patil faction. Shinde had distanced himself from Sujay’s Lok Sabha campaign, which reportedly led to strained relations.
A close associate of the Vikhe-Patil family commented, “In Ahmednagar, whoever opposes Balasaheb Thorat is on our side, irrespective of party affiliations. This time, we conducted our own surveys, identified promising candidates, and planned meticulously to take revenge. The results speak for themselves.”
Addressing victory rallies in Ahmednagar, Sujay openly acknowledged their role in defeating their rivals, cementing the Vikhe-Patil family’s resurgence in Maharashtra politics.
