Milind Sajangure
Thackeray has shocked the ruling party by tying Shivbandhan on the wrist of Jalgaon MP Unmesh Patil, who was denied Lok Sabha ticket by BJP. With the entry of Patil, the question of Thackeray group's Jalgaon-based candidature has also been settled, and it was announced that his loyal supporter Karan Pawar will be fielded as soon as he enters. With the entry of Patil, the contest in Jalgaon has become more colorful.
The names of two sitting MPs were cut in the list of candidates announced in the first list of BJP. They included Gopal Shetty from North Mumbai constituency and Unmesh Patil from Jalgaon. Pakhi Shetty accepted the decision as a matter of party loyalty. But Patil's displeasure was highlighted by his staying away from party meetings. Thackeray's entry into the Shiv Sena party on Wednesday proved that the calm before the storm has been there ever since. Along with Patil, his loyal supporter and former mayor of Parola, Karan Pawar and hundreds of activists left the BJP and joined Thackeray's party. After the party induction ceremony, party chief Uddhav Thackeray announced the candidature of Karan Pawar from Jalgaon while announcing the names of four candidates in the state. Pawar will have to fight Smita Wagh, who has been fielded by the BJP from the Grand Alliance. Thackeray is believed to have given a big blow to the BJP leaders who were confident that the Jalgaon election would be one-sided due to the entry of the Patil-Pawar duo into the party. Overall, the possibility of a colorful fight in Jalgaon has darkened due to the new political innings of Patil-Pawar.
Unmesh Patil, an engineer by profession, was first crowned MLA from Chalisgaon by the BJP and then given a ticket for MP from Jalgaon constituency in 2019. Patil was elected with a margin of 4.11 lakh votes from Jalgaon constituency which is considered to be the stronghold of BJP. He defeated NCP's Gulabrao Deokar. This was the BJP's biggest victory in rural areas. Patil got as many as 65 percent votes. However, Khandesh fell out with Girish Mahajan, the single-handed leader of the BJP. Moreover, Patil also clashed with the sitting MLA of Chalisgaon, Mangesh Chavan. It resulted in cutting the address of the boards.
Loyalist Karan Pawar has a political legacy. Pawar's grandfather Bhaskarrao Pawar-Patil was an MLA for two decades. Dr. who was a minister in the Congress coalition government. Karan is the nephew of Satish Pawar Patel. Pawar, who started his political journey from the NCP, won the election as a corporator in 2009. Around 2014, he took the lotus in hand of BJP and became the elected mayor of Parola. Even recently, he held the post of mayor. He is known as a staunch supporter of Unmesh Patil.
