Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) strongman from Sangli Sanjaykaka Patil is back in the ring for General election 2024. This time, his aim is to win the Lok Sabha election for the third time and turn the Sangli constituency into a BJP bastion. Sanjaykaka contested his first general election in 2014 and defeated the then-central minister Pratik Patil (grandson of former Maharashtra chief minister Vasantdada Patil), who was very close to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. In 2019, Sanjaykaka defeated Congress leader Vishal Patil, who had contested on the ticket of the Swabhimani Party of Raju Shetty. This election, Sanjaykaka Patil has been challenged again by Vishal Patil, who didn’t get a ticket from Mahavikas Aaghadi, and is, hence, contesting as an Independent.
Sanjaykaka Patil said he feels satisfied that he could work for the people of Sangli in a positive way, which is helping the entire district grow. “I am happy that due to the efforts we made, we successfully completed the expansion of the railway track from two lines to four lines. Due to the electrification of the railway, now one can reach Pune and Mumbai within a few hours from Sangli. I successfully brought heavy funding for different irrigation schemes for the Sangli district. We have floated tenders for the expansion of these irrigation schemes, and soon it will be completed,” said Sanjaykaka Patil.
Patil claimed that he is working on the project of a ‘Dry port’, which the people of Sangli had demanded. He claimed that the proposal which he had received has been sent to the Centre for further consideration. This project will be completed with the help of MIDC (Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation). Patil is confident that within the next six months, the work on the project will begin. Sangli district falls in western Maharashtra which always looks green, and farmers cultivate sugarcane, grapes, and pomegranates at a large scale. But few talukas of this district fall in a rain-shadow area due to which they face water scarcity. Patil said that he has brought heavy funding from the Centre for water distribution through various irrigation schemes for talukas which fall in rain-shadow areas.
“Due to less rain which happened last year, there is not enough water in the local rivers and dams, hence, we have got an order from the Centre to divert water to these areas from the hydraulic energy plant so that during the summer season locals will have some relief. We have approached the state government to give our district more water which is pending with them,” he said.
Despite the district being an educational hub and known for its health infrastructure, the youth of Sangli moves out to cities like Pune and Mumbai for jobs due to no big infrastructure or absence of IT companies. Sanjaykaka Patil has kept this on his priority list to invite big industries which can create jobs for locals. “We are in touch with big industries but there are prerequisites for their business like good air, rail and road connectivity, uninterrupted water supply. So considering their demands, we have started road works which will further connect to the main Mumbai-Delhi National Highway. We have also demanded the state govt to create ‘Kolhapur-Sangli development authority’ which will connect Sangli directly to Kolhapur and both cities will be benefited. We are also working on an airport project very closely; there is a growing demand for the Sangli airport. For this, we require more than 375 acres of land. We have told the state govt to identify that land and will make the Sangli airport under the Udaan 2 scheme of the central govt,” said Patil.
Patil criticised his opponents who have been trying to corner him for “not doing anything” in the last 10 years. Without taking the name of Vishal Patil (Independent Candidate), he said, “One family got a chance to represent the Sangli constituency for 12 times, how much money they brought to the constituency? In the last 35 years, they should explain to people how much money they got from the Centre and state for development? In this election on social media, my opponents have started some trend against me, but let me tell you this post and position is to do the work of people and not to do any ‘parivarvaad’,” said Sanjaykaka Patil.
“I want to make Sangli, which earlier was a bastion of the Congress Party, a bastion of the BJP. We contest the election to win it, but this time I can see that people of Sangli have taken this election in their hand and I am confident that they will vote for progress and will give me another opportunity to serve them. I am confident that I will win with a margin of 2 lakh votes,” said Patil.
Check Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Schedule, Key Candidates And Constituencies At News18 Website.
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