'Learned A Lot In 10 Years': Ex-Union Minister Suryakanta Patil Quits BJP Ahead Of Maharashtra Assembly Polls
Former Union Minister and senior leader Suryakanta Patil resigned from the primary membership of the BJP on Saturday.
In a big jolt to the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the upcoming Assembly polls in Maharashtra, former Union Minister and senior leader Suryakanta Patil resigned from the primary membership of the BJP on Saturday.
Patil was associated with the saffron party for the last decade and had wanted to contest the Lok Sabha polls from the Hingoli constituency in Maharashtra. However, she was denied a party ticket, for which she even expressed her displeasure on social media.
"I have learned a lot in the last 10 years, I am thankful to the party," she said after quitting.
Patil had joined the BJP in 2014, after parting ways with the Nationalist Congress party (Sharad Pawar).
In the seat-sharing arrangement for the Lok Sabha polls 2024, the Hingoli seat was given to the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde. The BJP had assigned her the responsibility of poll chief of the Hadgaon Himayatnagar assembly constituency in Maharashtra.
However, the Shiv Sena lost the Hingoli seat to the Uddhav Thackeray led faction in the parliamentary elections 2024.
Who Is Suryakanta Patil?
Previously, Patil represented the Hingoli-Nanded constituency four times as Member of Parliament and once as an MLA.
During her association with UPA government, she was also the minister of state for parliamentary affairs and rural development.
Patil started her political career in 1970 with Jan Sangh, following which she swtiched to Congress and worked as a corporator for eight years.
After being elected as an MLA from the Hadgaon assembly seat, she was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1986. Subsequently, she was elected as Lok Sabha MP in 1991, 1998, and 2004.
In 2009, she left Congress and joined NCP-SP, and contested the Lok Sabha polls. However, she could not win in the elections.
It was after this that she joined the BJP in 2014 and remained with the party for ten years. During this time, she represented the Hingoli-Nanded constituency as MP four times and once as MLA.