Lok Sabha Elections 2024: ‘People of Sangli believe I’m the true Congress candidate,' says Vishal Patil

Independent candidate Vishal Patil at his residence. Pic/Anurag Ahire

As this Lok Sabha seat gears up for a three-way battle, Vishal Patil, the Independent candidate and grandson of former chief minister Vasant Dada Patil, is making sure to reach out to all villagers and is meeting with prominent families in his constituency. In an interview with mid-day, the Congress rebel, who is lovingly referred to by his followers as Vishal Dada, tells us that the fight in Sangli is between him and the BJP.

What do you think is the reason for a three-way fight in this constituency?
There are 20 aspirants in the fray, so I don't think it's a three-way fight. I believe it's a straight fight between the BJP and me, who is the candidate of the people. The other candidates aren't even close enough to say that they are contesting the seat. People are fed up with the sitting MP and there is double anti-incumbency, one of the BJP and second of the candidate.

Did Congress request you to withdraw your candidature? In Kolhapur, a Congress rebel was expelled from the party but no disciplinary action has been taken against you.
I have discussed this before on various forums. My name had been approved by the Congress CEC [Central Election Committee] and I should have been declared the candidate. However, as per the seat-sharing arrangement with allies, Sangli went to the Shiv Sena (UBT). The latter party was claiming that they had the seat long before it even had been finalised. It's ironic that Shiv Sena (UBT) now claims that Congress should follow ‘aghadi dharma'.

The problem with Bajirao Khade, the former AICC representative from Maharashtra, is that he is contesting against the Congress candidate from Kolhapur [Shahu Chhatrapati]. I'm not fighting against a Congress candidate and if the party decided that I should not contest the seat and another candidate should contest from here, I would very happily campaign for them. In fact, I would be leading that campaign. Unfortunately, the Congress has been cheated here and everyone in the party clearly believes this. However, maybe they are under some kind of pressure to follow ‘aghadi dharma'.

You are fighting against a two-time BJP MP, Sanjaykaka Patil. How do you plan to stop him from winning?
He has a good way of bluffing and he keeps doing that. Mostly, the works he talks about are funded by the state government. As an MP, he has failed miserably to bring any kind of funds to the district from the Centre. Yes, being a parliamentarian, he automatically gets invited to a lot of groundbreaking ceremonies if works are carried out by local MLAs and the state government. He tries the portray them as his work, but people are very smart and they know what exactly is happening. He also tends to lie that he has a lot of support on the ground and he is well-connected with the people. If you roam the constituency, you will realise that he has not visited more than 50 per cent of villages in the past five years.

I have visited every village here in the past four months. He has not visited some villages in the past 10 years and he totally depends on the local leadership. In 2014, he won amid the anti-UPA wave where Modi-ji was able to convince people that he was the only alternative. In 2019, he managed to force a lot of local leaders to work for him. The Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi factor also impacted my vote share during the last general election and my not being able to contest on the hand symbol benefitted him. He is not popular at all and his popularity reduced from 58 per cent in 2014 to 42 point something in 2019, which is a huge drop. This time, I don't see him getting more than 35 per cent of the votes. I don't see him getting any support.

Dr Vishwajeet Kadam has been vocal about the fact that Congress should have fought from Sangli with you as the candidate. His video about the same while speaking in front of Congress leaders during a rally has also gone viral. However, now he is seen campaigning for the MVA candidate Chandrahar Patil. How do you see this?
It was a very emotional speech that came straight from the heart. I believe Dr Vishwajeet Kadam truly wanted me to be the candidate. He, I and everyone in the Congress believe that the BJP needs to be defeated and I, therefore, would be the best candidate to do that. However, he did complain that whatever was done was not right. It is unfortunate that one of the tallest leaders of the district as well as the state has to follow ‘aghadi dharma'. Now whether the people [electorate] will listen to that is something that we will see. I believe that people in Sangli, especially the Congress workers believe that I'm the true Congress candidate with Congress ideology.

What are the key issues in your constituency and how do you plan to solve them?
The main problem is water for farming. My grandfather first initiated irrigation projects in 1985-86. Though he approved them, unfortunately, he had to resign and he then passed away [in 1989]. In the mid-90s, these projects were started again and they gained steam in the 2000s when my brother was the Central minister and he got the schemes approved. He also allocated massive funds for irrigation-related projects and that's how these projects have progressed.
Sangli is primarily is an agrarian economy. We have huge sugar factories and one of the largest market committees, which was founded by my grandfather.

Farmers have a good market. They just need water, which is a scarce resource. The aspirations of the youth of Sangli are now uncontrollable and we need to channelise them by providing education and employment. A lot of migration is happening from rural areas into cities because of which the latter's infrastructure is crumbling. Sangli is expanding and you need to bring in funds to improve its infrastructure. The MP has failed to get this city included in the list of smart cities. We have Miraj, which is a junction and that's how we developed a medical hub there. We don't have an airport but if we had one, we could develop more hubs around this city.

May 7
Day Sangli goes to the polls