Adhalrao to join Ajit Pawar-led NCP today

Three-time Shiv Sena MP Shivajrao Adhalrao Patil will formally join the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar today.

Adhalrao will contest the Lok Sabha elections as the NCP nominee from the Shirur constituency in Pune district against NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) candidate and sitting MP Amol Kolhe.

Adhalrao's move to join the NCP has been cleared by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Adhalrao left the NCP in 2004 and joined the Shiv Sena. In 2004, he emerged victorious from Khed. However, following the delimitation in 2008, Shirur was established as a separate constituency. In the 2009 Lok Sabha election, Adhalrao Patil secured his second victory, defeating NCP's Vilas Lande by nearly 1.8 lakh votes. In the 2014 election, he defeated Devdatta Nikam of NCP by a margin of over three lakh votes. In the 2019 elections, Kolhe, a popular Marathi actor renowned for his portrayals of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj in movies and television serials, defeated Adhalrao by over 58,000 votes. After the Shiv Sena broke off in 2022, he remained with Uddhav Thackeray for a while before migrating to the Shinde faction of the party.

In an interview with IANS, Adhalrao claims he does not see the forthcoming contest as a challenge but as an opportunity to win with a big margin.

What are the challenges for you in fighting the election now?

I see this as an opportunity. Everyone knows the reasons behind my defeat in the 2019 elections. However, wherever I go, the people start by saying that they committed a major mistake in the last elections. They promise not to make the same mistake again but cast their vote in favour of me. I am contesting this election for victory. I know the past mistakes and also what needs to be done for victory. The situation is quite favourable for my victory with a big margin.