IT was an affair that was meant to happen. Just that it took Vishal Patil a little over 30 years to finally win over the love of his life—the Congress. On June 6, two days after winning the Sangli Lok Sabha constituency with a margin of over one lakh votes, he headed straight to 10 Janpath, his face pink with the celebratory gulal. Minutes later, he announced his official engagement with the Congress by sharing his photo on X, flanked by Rahul and Sonia Gandhi, and he captioned it Hum Saath Saath Hai.
Patil defeated the BJP’s incumbent MP Sanjaykaka Patil as an independent candidate but later pledged his unconditional support to the Congress. The endorsement helped the party to take its overall winning tally in the Lok Sabha to 100—for the first time since 2014—and enabled Patil’s long-awaited return to the party’s fold as a Congressman.
The Congress ideology runs deep in Patil and his family. His grandfather, the late Vasantdada Patil, was a stalwart leader and two-time chief minister of Maharashtra. His father Prakash Patil was an MP and his brother Pratik Patil is the former Minister of State for coal.
This story is from the July 01, 2024 edition of Outlook.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the July 01, 2024 edition of Outlook.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Political Dangal
After fighting hard for Olympic glory and protesting against sexual violence, Vinesh Phogat has now stepped into a new role: the politician
Contending Nationalisms
The Manipur crisis is a complex, interconnected mess that spills across several borders, national and international
God, Communism and a Women's Gym
Unlike other constituencies in the region, Kulgam stands out as a battleground for ideological conflict. The election results, expected on October 8, could lead to either celebration in the CPI M) camp or the Jamaat-e-Islami camp
Emergency, Stalled
Kangana Ranaut starrer, Emergency, the eagerly awaited biopic of 2024, is yet to find a release date. Bollywood has churned out a slew of biopics in the last decade, most of them formulaic
The Darkest Hour
Qurban Ali is a senior journalist and son of former freedom fighter and Socialist leader Captain Abbas Ali, who was jailed for 19 months by the Indira Gandhi government during the Emergency.
Chronicle of Authoritarianism Foretold?
Eternal vigilance on the part of citizens is imperative Eternal vigilance on the part of citizens is imperative
Blank Editorials
Despite being under scrutiny during the Emergency, small journals like Himmat Weekly got around censorship by taking calculated risks
To Write or Not to Write
For many journalists, reporting in the volatile decade of the 1970s was both exciting and challenging
Indira, the Nationalist
Indira Gandhi is dead and she cannot defend herself. But that doesn't mean others can't
Blue Star and the Golden Temple
Bhindranwale was able to get away with wrongdoings because in the eyes of the Congress leadership in Delhi, Punjab had a Sikh problem since Independence’
