'People want change in Nagpur and in the country'

An ex-MP branded an outsider, Nana Patole, says he is very much from Nagpur

A rustic who gels well with the semi-urban crowd of Nagpur, Nana Patole, has been getting encouraging support from party workers, who appreciate his resolve of taking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and BJP heavyweight Nitin Gadkari, in a keenly-contested Lok Sabha seat. The campaigners ensure that Patole's rebellion is mentioned when they talk of defeating the BJP and Gadkari.

Patole, Congress candidate from Nagpur, goes into the field with confidence that he has gained from the much-publicised fight against the most powerful person in the country. He rips Gadkari apart, questioning the needless development work such as metro rail, cement roads and the minister's failure in creating jobs and mitigating the agrarian crisis.

It doesn't matter to him when an allegation is made that he is an import from a neighbouring Gondia-Bhandara constituency, where he had won on a BJP ticket, and resigned after a fall-out with BJP's leadership. But he did not contest a by-poll that eventually changed the political equations in Maharashtra when separated cousins, the Congress and Nationalist Congress, joined hands to beat the BJP. Instead, he announced he would challenge Gadkari from Nagpur, if given an opportunity. Originally a Congressman, Patole had switched over to the BJP a decade ago. The Congress chose him now because the infighting in the Nagpur Congress had reached its nadir and a local candidate could have made matters even easier for Gadkari. The party thought of social engineering by way of putting a Kunbi, Patole, in the ring.

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Though branded an outsider, Patole has brought all factions together - especially the prospective Assembly candidates, who are working hard in anticipation of a certificate of good work from the high command. But there are some senior leaders who do not want a relatively young Patole to gain a foothold in Nagpur and pose a challenge to them.

Patole is accused of helping the upper caste culprits in the infamous Khairlanji case in which a Dalit mother and daughter were killed. Patole says he is not an outsider. "I stay here in Nagpur. My children are studying here. People know me very well and they want change in Nagpur and in the country."

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