Notably, Patil, grandson of former Maharashtra chief minister Vasantdada Patil, secured victory in the Lok Sabha election from the Sangli constituency.
Despite being a former Congress leader, Patil had to contest the elections as an independent candidate after the Sangli parliamentary seat was allocated to the Shiv Sena-UBT as part of the seat-sharing arrangement within the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition.
Mallikarjun Kharge took to X to express his appreciation, saying, “People of Maharashtra defeated the politics of treachery, arrogance and division. It is a fitting tribute to our inspiring stalwarts like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and Babasaheb Dr Ambedkar who fought for social justice, equality and freedom. Welcoming the support of elected MP from Sangli, Vishal Patil to the Congress party. Long live the Constitution!”
The Congress party emerged as the strongest opposition party in the recent Lok Sabha elections, securing 99 seats, while the INDIA bloc, the opposition coalition, won a total of 233 seats.
In his statement to the press, Patil said, “It did not become possible to contest on a Congress ticket, but people have voted for me taking into consideration the ideology of Congress. I can’t forget this. Hence after getting elected, I extended my support to Congress. Today, I have sent a letter of support to Mallikarjun Kharge. I met Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi to take their blessings. We will work together.”
AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal emphasised the Congress party’s strong roots in Sangli and commended Patil’s unconditional support, stating, “This is a truly fitting move which takes the legacy of Congress stalwart Vasantdada Patil ji forward.”
(With inputs from agency)
Source Agencies
