Mumbai: If there’s one key lesson that Jayant Patil has learnt from his party boss Sharad Pawar, it is the art of maintaining warm relationships and having friends across the political spectrum. While he’s loyal to his party chief, Sharad Pawar, there’s been no dearth of political options for him in various parties. And there must’ve been at least a few occasions when he’s considered a move.
Despite his political clout and his experience, there have been consistent efforts to undermine his supremacy in the party. Be it his cold relations with Ajit Pawar and now the alleged ‘Supriya stamp’ on the party’s choice of candidates and decisions, Patil’s clout seems to ruffle his colleague’s feathers. During the Lok Sabha elections, Devendra Fadnavis had remarked that Patil had been kept away from an active campaign. The senior NCP leader’s disappointment probably prompted Pawar to recently announce that “bigger roles” were being planned for him. Pawar said that at a public meeting in Sangli, Patil’s stronghold which stands behind him, quite firmly.
Ever smiling and affable, he’s known to wield considerable influence over Islampur in Sangli district, a constituency nurtured by his visionary father Rajarambapu Patil who set up big cooperatives and educational institutes in the area.
His tenure in the Nationalist Congress Party, which he joined when Pawar split from the Congress in 1999, has been marked by internal strife and competition. His closeness to Pawar senior didn’t go down to well with Ajit. A politician from Sangli also recalls how Patil was initially hesitant to move from the Congress and was among the later ones to follow Pawar to the NCP. “That hesitation or reluctance was remembered by Pawar but his influence over Islampur politics is such that he’s an asset to any party,” says the politician from the NCP.
An educated and erudite politician, he is known to have an uncomfortable relationship with Ajit. With Ajit at the helm until now, his decisions within the party were frequently stalled or overturned by Ajit. Appointments recommended by him didn’t always go through. This unrest was palpable and the BJP, in which he has several friends, has been waiting for an opportunity to grab him to their side.
Patil, who has the distinction of having presented 10 state budgets without a break in a decade, has warm relations with the BJP. The party apparently has been wanting him for long. For the past few years, there have been consistent rumors and speculation that Patil may switch to the BJP. When investigating agencies ordered a probe into him, it was seen as an attempt to get him to defect. But he stayed put.
The upcoming polls are Patil’s first all-important assembly elections after the party split. But what can be best called the ‘Supriya stamp’ is all over the party—the choice of contestants such as Fahad Ahmad and Rohit RR Patil are her picks. Unperturbed, Patil is continuing with his public rallies and campaigns.
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