Prithviraj Chavan a likely pick for Satara bypoll

PUNE: NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday said former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and Sikkim ex-Governor Shriniwas Patil were in the fray for Satara Lok Sabha bypoll.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Pawar said he was under pressure from party workers to contest from Satara. "I told them I have decided to stay away from poll politics," he said.
He said Congress and NCP were considering names like Chavan, Patil and NCP's Satara president Avinash Mohite."We will decide soon," Pawar said.
Chavan was summoned to Delhi by the Congress high command after Udayanraje Bhosale's resignation from NCP. Sources close to Chavan in Karad said he met several top leaders in Delhi. Some Congress leaders feel that Chavan should contest, as he can be a strong party voice in the Lok Sabha.
Sources also said Chavan was reluctant to go back to Delhi politics as he was more keen on state politics. Chavan will have to depend on the NCP network, as a majority of Congress leaders in Satara have shifted their loyalties to the BJP. Sources said the former chief minister was not sure if he could count on the NCP's support, given the "strained relations" between the two parties.
BJP conducted a meeting of party workers on Wednesday, which was presided over by Udayanraje, to prepare for the bypoll. Bhosale said BJP leaders had always backed him when he had fallen on hard times.