This story is from March 2, 2019

NCP-Congress tussle over Ahmednagar continues

NCP-Congress tussle over Ahmednagar continues
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar
PUNE: Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar’s reported statement on Friday about his willingness to give up the Ahmednagar Lok Sabha seat to Congress raised hopes of the entry of the third generation of the prominent Vikhe Patil family into electoral politics.
Hours later, however, Maharashtra NCP chief Jayant Patil clarified that Pawar had not made any such statement and that the party had not given up its claim on Ahmednagar seat.
The seat-sharing talks between the two allies, Congress and NCP, for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections are stuck over who will field a candidate from Ahmednagar.
Sujay Vikhe Patil, son of leader of the opposition in the state assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, is keen on contesting the Lok Sabha election from Ahmednagar. This central part of Maharashtra has been a traditional stronghold of the Vikhe Patil family, which is credited with establishing a network of cooperatives and educational institutes in Pravaranagar and the region. His grandfather, Balasaheb Vikhe Patil, had represented the Ahmednagar Lok Sabha constituency for eight terms.
When asked about the Ahmednagar parliamentary seat during a media interaction at Akluj in Solapur, Pawar reportedly said that they were ready to give up the seat for the Congress.
As his statement started doing the rounds, Sujay told TOI that he “shall live up to the trust and confidence that the NCP chief has shown in us. Taking forward this confidence, I assure that both parties will grow bigger in the constituency and the results would be positive”.
A neuro surgeon by profession, Sujay said that he would not let anybody down with this opportunity coming his way. In December last year, he had said he would contest the election from Ahmednagar, even if the Congress party does not nominate him from there.

Ahmednagar and six to seven other seats have been a bone of contention between the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress, which have decided to form an alliance for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The NCP has been contesting the Ahmednagar Lok Sabha seat since 1999.
The NCP itself is in troubled waters in Ahmednagar. Earlier this year, the NCP had expelled all its 18 newly-elected representatives in the Ahmednagar Municipal Corporation (AMC) for voting for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the mayoral elections. The party also removed NCP Ahmednagar city unit president Manikrao Vidhate for “anti-party” activities.
Despite having only 14 seats in the corporation, BJP nominee for mayor’s post Babasaheb Wakale and the saffron party’s candidate for the post of deputy mayor Malan Dhone won the elections with the backing of the now-expelled NCP corporators. Shiv Sena, which had emerged as the single-largest party in the civic polls with 24 seats, was left in the lurch.
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