Vishwajeet Kadam, son of Patangrao Kadam, is the lone candidate in fray in Palus-Kadegaon constituency, polling for which had been scheduled on May 28. Vishwajeet Kadam, son of Patangrao Kadam, is the lone candidate in fray in Palus-Kadegaon constituency, polling for which had been scheduled on May 28.

IN a first in Maharashtra politics, a Congress candidate ‘won’ a state Assembly election with the support from arch rivals, BJP and the Shiv Sena. Vishwajeet Kadam, son of Patangrao Kadam, is the lone candidate in fray in Palus-Kadegaon constituency, polling for which had been scheduled on May 28.

On the last day of withdrawal of nominations, a BJP candidate today opted out of the fray. Earlier, the Shiv Sena and NCP had extended their support, choosing not to field their candidates. There were 7 independent candidates who too withdrew from the fray on Monday. The State Election Commission will announce Kadam’s unopposed victory after getting a report from the officials in Sangli.

Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said only a formality of announcement of Kadam’s victory remained. “The BJP candidate today withdrew from the race and so did the independents. Only Kadam now remains in the fray,” he said. Sawant said it is probably the first time that a Congress candidate has won with support from BJP and the Sena. “I don’t remember any such earlier occasion. But this seems to be first one in years,” he said.

Congress leaders denied that they had requested the BJP and Shiv Sena to support Kadam. “Kadam seems to have managed it on his own because of his father’s equations with the BJP and Sena,” a Congress leader said.

The election was necessitated following the death of former minister and veteran Congress leader Patangrao Kadam, also a top education baron in Maharashtra. Patangrao had won the seat for six times from Wangi-Bilawdi constituency in Sangli district. He had twice lost the elections. In the 2014 elections, the constituency was renamed as Palus-Kadegaon.

On the other hand, Vishwajeet Kadam, a former youth Congress president, who had contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, was defeated with a massive margin by Anil Shirole of BJP. This is his first election victory.

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