Jun 19, 2025 09:30 AM IST
MUMBAI: BJP gains former CM Vasantdada Patil’s granddaughter-in-law Jayashree Patil, a blow to Congress in Sangli, as party strengthens ahead of local polls.
MUMBAI: The Mahayuti’s spree of poaching strong local leaders from other parties continues apace. Its latest catch is former chief minister Vasantdada Patil’s granddaughter-in-law Jayashree Patil, who joined the BJP on Wednesday in the presence of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. This is seen as a loss for the Congress in Sangli, a district that has been its stronghold since Independence.
Jayashree Patil (62) contested the 2024 assembly elections as an independent, and was expelled by the Congress after she filed her candidature against Congress candidate Prithviraj Patil. Vice-president of the Sangli District Cooperative Bank, she is the wife of former cabinet minister Madan Patil and sister-in-law of Vishal Patil, the sitting independent MP associated with the Congress.
Patil was being wooed by the NCP and was expected to join when party chief Ajit Pawar visited Sangli two weeks ago. The BJP leadership, however, assured her of a better offer. She is believed to have been appointed as an invitee member on the district planning committee and has also been assured that the ongoing inquiry against the Vasantdada Agricultural Cooperative Bank will be dropped. She has also been reportedly assured of a legislative council seat from one of Sangli’s local bodies in future.
At the induction function, Fadnavis said that Patil’s entry was part of the strategy to strengthen the BJP before the local body polls. “We have a strong foothold in Sangli, and Jayashreetai’s induction will help us further strengthen our base,” he said. Fadnavis added that while the induction of leaders generally happened in the presence of the state president, he attended the function as Patil had “inherited the legacy of Vasantdada Patil’s family”. “More and more Congress loyalists are joining the BJP, as they are disillusioned with the lack of leaders in their party,” he claimed.
The BJP game plan is to identify leaders with a large following who could help them win big in the local body polls. The induction of Patil comes a day after Sudhakar Badgujar, former city chief of the Shiv Sena (UBT) from Nashik, joined the BJP.
