The Shirur Lok Sabha seat is causing trouble for the grand alliance. In the last Lok Sabha elections, NCP (Sharad Chandra Pawar) party leader Dr. Amol Kolhe was elected. His rival, former MP Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil is now in Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sen. However, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar is not ready to leave the constituency and wants to field his candidate in Shirur. There is a buzz in the political circles that Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil may contest on a ticket in Ajit Pawar's NCP. When asked about this, MP Amol Kolhe made a clear statement.
What Amol Kolhe said"If you look at the strength of the Grand Alliance, there are about 200 MLAs, two deputy chief ministers, and one chief minister. With such a huge strength, they have two candidates eyeing for the seat. Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil will have to join Ajit Dada's NCP from the Shinde group. Or Pradeep Dada Kand from BJP will have to go to Ajit Dada's NCP. This means that the Grand Alliance will have to import candidates from other parties, i.e. their allies. This is the testament to their nature and work" said Amol Kolhe.
Ajit Pawar firm on Shirur seatA meeting of Mahayuti leaders was held recently at the Chief Minister's Varsha residence to resolve the tussle for the Shirur Lok Sabha seat. In this meeting, Ajit Pawar strongly said that he should have this seat in the seat-sharing arrangement. The Chief Minister is also said to have agreed to Ajit Pawar's stand. Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil will have to join Ajit Pawar's NCP if he wants to contest the Lok Sabha elections on a Mahayuti ticket. Otherwise, BJP's Pradeep Kand will have to join Ajit Dada's NCP and contest the elections.
Earlier, Adhalrao Patil told a news channel that if Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Fadnavis, and Ajit Dada agree, he will contest the Lok Sabha elections on the NCP ticket.