Kolhapur's Stalwart Congress Leader and MLA P N Patil Dies at 71

Kolhapur: Pandurang Nivrutti alias P.N. Patil, a leader who has the image of being the 'Fearless Tiger' of the Congress in Kolhapur district, passed away at 6 am on Thursday. He was 71 years old.  His sudden demise left a mountain of grief on the millions of workers who loved him deeply. He is survived by his son Rajesh, Rahul, married daughter Tina, sister Damayanti Mohite, and a large family.

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His wife Jayadevi died in 2012. Not only did he endure the trauma, but he had bravely stood up in the face of many family setbacks. His death broke the backbone of the Jamadar family of Sadoli. He was also the backbone of Congress politics in the district.

MLA Patil was extremely cautious about his health. But during the Lok Sabha elections, he was spending night campaigning for almost a month. He had started to experience discomfort after casting his vote on Monday. 

At a time when the politics of giving up ideological and party loyalty for power and entering into an alliance with any party has become commonplace, Patil never put down the Congress tricolor flag. His politics wasn't just about power. Before becoming an MLA, he built the Rajivji cotton mill on Pondya Mala of Dindnerli. He also established the Shripatraodada Bank. The people of Karvir Taluka made him an MLA twice in 2004 and 2019. He was still a strong candidate for the Assembly. He remained with the original Congress when the Congress split in the state in 1999. During difficult times, he took over as district president and built the Congress for 18 years.

Political Career
Patil contested six assembly elections in 1995, 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019. In the first election in 1995, he lost to Sampatrao Pawar of the NCP by 3,302 votes, while in the 1999 elections, he lost to him by 8,605 votes. He finally became an MLA for the first time in 2004 by defeating Pawar by a margin of 44,997 votes. Later in 2009, he faced Shiv Sena's Chandradeep Narke. Narke won the election by a margin of 5,624 votes. In the next election in 2014, Patil lost to Narke by a margin of just 710 votes. But in the last election, Patil won by a margin of 22,661 votes. 

When Patil became an MLA for the first time in 2004, his close friend Vilasrao Deshmukh was the chief minister of the state. However, Patil was not given a ministerial berth as he had become an MLA for the first time. He instead got the position of director of the electricity board. The Maha Vikas Aghadi came to power in the last elections. He was hoping for a ministerial berth then, which did not materialize.

His passing has left a great void among party workers and friends. Patil will be remembered for his unawebering loyalty and commitmebt to public welfare.