Mumbai: Wrestler Chandrahar Patil on Monday joined the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and he is likely to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Sangli in the western part of Maharashtra.
Patil, who has won the state's top wrestling competition 'Maharashtra Kesari' two times, joined the outfit in the presence of Thackeray and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut.
Amid slogans from the crowd about sending Patil to Delhi, Thackeray said, "Chandrahar had asked me to give some hint. I think you people have already decided, then no one can change it now."
"We need to send a strongman from Sangli with a blunt mace in one hand and a flaming torch (Thackeray's party symbol) in the other to Parliament. I appoint Chandrahar Patil as Shiv Sena Lok Sabha coordinator for Sangli district," he said.
Thackeray further said he would come to campaign in Sangli and asked people to invite him for the victory rally.
Incidentally, Patil's candidature for the Lok Sabha polls was announced earlier by the Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), which is in talks with the Maha Vikas Aghadi for an alliance.
Thackeray's announcement goes against the agreement reached within the MVA last week that none of the constituents would unilaterally declare candidates.
Raut, on March 5, had said details of seat-sharing would be announced jointly by MVA members. The Congress, which is part of the MVA, has won the Sangli seat several times, before the BJP wrested it in 2014 and retained it in 2019.
Published 11 March 2024, 13:04 IST