JUNE 30, 2019 • THE WEEK 93Balasaheb who first rebelled to quit
the Congress. As he grew old, his son
Radhakrishna rebelled and joined
the Shiv Sena and became minister
for agriculture in the first Sena-BJP
government (1995-99). Balasaheb
followed in the footsteps of his son
and joined the Sena. He won the
1999 Lok Sabha elections from the
Kopargaon constituency and became
minister of state for finance in the
Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.
Now it is Sujay’s turn to lead the
rebellion and his father has followed
him.”
Interestingly, even as Balasaheb
was with the Sena, Radhakrishna
had returned to the Congress when it
came to power in 1999 in Maharash-
tra. He subsequently became a min-
ister and held important portfolios.
Balasaheb returned to the Congress
in 2004 and was elected from the
Kopargaon. He died in 2016.
The party-hopping ways of the
Vikhe Patils have always been
questioned by their critics. Former
minister Balasaheb Thorat, who is
the new Congress legislature party
leader in Maharashtra, had warned
the party’s central leadership not
to rely on the Vikhe Patils. Their
critics say the Vikhe Patils are power
hungry, always chasing positions of
influence to keep their Ahmedna-
gar fiefdom intact. “Their cooper-
ative empire is worth around a fewthousand crores,” said a source, who
has known the Vikhe Patils for a long
time.
Congress spokesperson Sachin
Sawant said Radhakrishna’s exit was
expected. “He was unhappy after the
NCP refused to leave the Ahmed-
nagar seat for his son. He did not
campaign in Ahmednagar and Shirdi
constituencies and his network made
sure that his son won from Ahmed-
nagar and Sadashiv Lokhande (Shiv
Sena) won from Shirdi. As leader of
opposition, his performance was not
that great. He had shared dais with
the chief minister, claiming that the
CM was his personal friend. So we
had sensed that this was coming,”
said Sawant.
Deshpande said the BJP was trying
to take away from the Congress its
most important leaders who had
the ability to revive the party. “The
BJP snatched away Narayan Rane,
a powerful leader with a mass base
and the ability to revive the party.
They are doing the same with Vikhe
Patil,” he said.
Water Supply Minister Babanrao
Lonikar said Vikhe Patil’s entry into
the cabinet had completely crushed
the morale of the Congress. “Vikhe
Patil is a powerful name. He is a
Maratha, an eminent sugar baron
with huge clout. It will certainly ben-
efit the BJP not just in Ahmednagar
district, but also in the neighbouring
Marathwada and north Maharashtra.
It is like we have snatched a Congress
senapati,” said Lonikar.
A BJP legislator, however, chose to
disagree. “It is fine with Vikhe Patil.
His entry has a huge demoralising
effect on the Congress. But we are
worried about other Congress-NCP
legislators who are keen to join,” he
said. “The BJP will get only 144 seats
to contest in the assembly elections
after the seat-sharing pact with the
Sena. We already have 123 legislators
of our own, and seven independents.
If we welcome leaders from other
parties, when will our loyal cadre get
PTI a chance to contest elections?”