Vishal Patil, an independent Lok Sabha member from Maharashtra, met with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and expressed his support for the party on Thursday.
Mr Patil, grandson of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Vasantdada Patil, was elected to the Lok Sabha from Sangli.
Mr Patil, a former Congress leader, stood as an Independent after the Shiv Sena-UBT was allocated the Sangli parliamentary seat as part of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition’s seat-sharing arrangement.
Mr. Kharge wrote on X, “Welcoming the support of the Congress party from Sangli’s elected MP, Shri Vishal Patil (@patilvishalvp).” Also, Patil had meetings with Rahul and Sonia Gandhi, two previous presidents of the Congress.
The opposition INDIA bloc’s greatest number of seats, 99, was gained by the Congress in the just ended Lok Sabha elections. 233 seats were won by the opposing coalition.
“It became impossible for me to run on a Congress ticket, yet voters still supported me despite Congress’s ideological stance. This is something I will never forget. I therefore gave Congress my support after I was elected. I have written Mallikarjun Kharge a letter of support today. To receive their approval, I met Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. We’ll collaborate,” Mr. Patil stated to the assembled press.
The Congress has long had strong ties to Sangli, said to AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal, and Patil has shown the party unwavering support because of this.
“This is a truly fitting move which takes the legacy of Congress stalwart Vasantdada Patil ji forward,” Venugopal added.
Mr. Patil is the son of Sangli-based Congress Lok Sabha MP Prakashbapu Patil, who has served five terms. After Prakashbapu passed away in 2005, a bypoll saw his son Pratik Patil emerge victorious in Sangli.
Vishal took over after Pratik, a union minister in the UPA administration, abruptly announced his retirement from politics.
Also Read | Kangana Ranaut allegedly assaulted by CISF officer at Mohali airport, probe issued
