Pawar Says He Tried to Mollify Harshvardhan over Indapur Seat

Pune, Oct 19 (PTI) NCP chief Sharad Pawar claimed on Saturday that he had reached out to former Congress leader Harshvardhan Patil to resolve the dispute over Indapur assembly seat.

Patil quit the Congress and joined the BJP ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly polls. The saffron party has fielded him from Indapur in Pune district.

The former minister was reportedly miffed that the NCP, which has a seat-sharing arrangement with the Congress, was not ready to cede the Indapur seat -- his home turf -- for him despite earlier assurances.

"I told him (Patil) to wait and said we will look for some solution," Pawar said at a rally at Indapur on the last day of campaigning for assembly polls.

"I then spoke to Bharne (Datta Bharne, the NCP candidate from Indapur) and he told me if there was going to be a dispute, he was ready to stop (not seek ticket)," Pawar said.

After speaking to Bharne, he tried to call Patil, however, despite calling him eight times, Patil could not be reached, Pawar claimed.

"I called Patil's daughter and left a message with her....But no call came from him and after some days the news of his visit to Varsha (official residence of Maharashtra Chief Minister) came and later he joined the BJP," the NCP chief said.

Pawar also said he was told that some people who are working for Bharne's campaign in Indapur were threatened.

"I request them...till now no one has stooped to politics of intimidation. If someone tries that, I will not spare him. I am a straight man, but if someone takes a different step, he will not be spared," the NCP chief warned.

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