Two political heavyweights of Maharashtra – former NCP (SP) state president Jayant Patil and BJP cabinet minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil – suffered setbacks in the district central cooperative (DCC) bank elections, results of which were declared on Tuesday.
Elections to the Sangli, Ahilyanagar and Satara DCC banks were held on November 2. Padalkar secured 54 votes, defeating Pawar by 20 votes. He defeated BJP’s Satyajeetsinh Patil from the Patan PACS constituency by 12 votes.
Besides Padalkar, former NCP MP Sanjaykaka Patil won the Tasgaon PACS seat, defeating NCP (SP) candidate Suman Patil, wife of former state home minister R R Patil, by two votes. The remaining three contested seats were won by candidates belonging to the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). The polls are politically significant as these financial institutions play a crucial role in the rural economy and wield considerable influence over the cooperative sector in their respective districts. In the Sangli DCC Bank elections, Jayant Patil’s political rival and BJP MLA from Jat, Gopichand Padalkar, registered a convincing victory from the Jat Primary Agricultural Credit Society (PACS) constituency. He defeated Vinod Pawar, who was backed by the MVA camp. Vinod is the brother of Sunil Pawar, who is a local BJP Zilla Parishad (ZP) member, and Sunil had campaigned against Vinod in the elections. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis called the BJP MLA to congratulate him on what he described as a remarkable victory. In the Kavathe Mahankal PACS constituency, former minister Ajitrao Ghorpade of the NCP defeated Shiv Sena’s Tanaji Patil. “My political opponents worked overtime to ensure my defeat in the polls. But the voters of Jat PACS reposed their trust in me. My opponents even tried to prevent me from contesting by raising questions about my nomination. District guardian minister and Shiv Sena leader Sambhuraj Desai contested the DCC Bank elections for the first time in his political career. In the Man PACS constituency, BJP minister Jaykumar Gore defeated his brother Shekhar, who contested on a Shiv Sena ticket, and NCP candidate Manoj Pol.
The voters have given them a befitting reply,” Padalkar said.
