Sangli Lok Sabha seat in Western Maharashtra has been a Congress fiefdom for very long time. It has won the seat 14 times and in recent times only lost in 2014, courtesy the unprecedented Modi wave. Yet, surprisingly there is no Congress candidate from Sangli this time around. The party has left it for its ally Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana (SSS). Grandson of late Maharashtra chief minister Vasantdada Patil, Vishal Patil is the SSS candidate. Incidentally, Vishal's elder brother Pratik Patil was the Congress candidate in 2014, when he lost to Sanjay Patil of BJP by 40,000 votes. Pratik Patil is a two time MP from Sangli, and was extremely upset when Congress gave away the seat to SSS. In protest he has resigned from Congress but contrary to speculation isn't contesting as an independent.
Sitting MP Sanjaykaka Patil is again contesting and is hoping that aggressive campaigning by BJP President Amit Shah would help him in the election. Sanjay is banking on the work done in Sangli, a key centre for agriculture produce in Maharashtra. Also in fray is Prakash Ambedkar's VBA party's Gopichand Padalkar. The assembly segments under Sangli are Miraj,Sangli, Palus-Kadegaor,Khanapur, Tasgaon-Kavathe, Mahankal and Jat. It goes to polls on April 23.
The 48 seats of Maharashtra are going to polls in four phases. The main parties are BJP, Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP. After contesting separately in last assembly elections, BJP and Sena are contesting together and so in Congress and NCP. Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) of Prakash Ambedkar has also put up candidates in all seats. Raj Thackeray's MNS is not contesting this election, though he has openly canvassed for Congress- NCP alliance.
A total of 14 Lok Sabha seats will go to polls on April 23 during the third phase.They include Jalgaon, Raver, Jalna, Aurangabad, Raigad, Pune, Baramati, Ahmednagar, Madha, Sangli, Satara, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Kolhapur and Hatkanangle.
