NEW DELHI: Adopting an aggressive stance for over two weeks, Congress MLA from Palus-Kadegaon, Vishwajeet P. Kadam, called on party President Mallikarjun Kharge and other leaders in New Delhi, reiterating the demand for the Sangli Lok Sabha constituency, on Saturday.
Kadam, along with the prospective party candidate Vishal P. Patil, met Kharge and other senior leaders like K. C. Venugopal, Ramesh Chennithala and Mukul Wasnik -- all for the second time in barely 10 days with the same plea.
Speaking to the media, Kadam said: “There is absolutely no question of giving up Sangli LS, as ‘even animals know that it belongs to Congress’ and we have placed our claim before the party seniors”.
On April 1, Kadam -- the son of the late senior leader Patangrao Kadam -- had shot off a letter to Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on the same issue.
The Sangli seat imbroglio flared up after the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) ally Shiv Sena (UBT) President and ex-chief minister Uddhav Thackeray had unilaterally announced the name of top state wrestler Chandrahar Patil as its candidate.
The MVA allies Congress and later even the Nationalist Congress Party (SP) pointed fingers at Thackeray for not adhering to the principles of alliance politics, and both parties have staked claim to the Sangli LS constituency.
On its party, the Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders have openly warned that in case the MVA allies insist on the Sangli seat, then it will have repercussions on other constituencies being contested by the Congress-NCP (SP).
Kadam said he was not aware of what Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders like Sanjay Raut (MP) and Bhaskar Jadhav (MLA) have been talking about.
“However, we have presented our clear viewpoint on Sangli to the party high command, explained the implications and shall await their decision, ” said Kadam.
To a query, in a potential softening of his stance, Kadam said that “if the Congress leadership and the MVA leaders jointly take a decision in the matter, then we shall abide by their directives”.
After Saturday’s rounds of meetings, Vishal Patil made a telling tweet indicating – “Soon there will be some good news on Sangli LS seat, ” and said that the aim is not just to contest but win it with a huge margin.
A similar tug-of-war is on in the ruling MahaYuti alliance even as the last date for filing nominations in Sangli is April 19 and the constituency will go to polls in the third phase of Lok Sabha elections on May 7.