| NCP chief Sharad Pawar had said in Kolhapur last week that while in the Lok Sabha elections the issues were different, effecting a similar alliance for the forthcoming Assembly elections would be difficult. |
| Patil told Business Standard: "What the NCP chief meant was that for the Assembly elections there is a different configuration and local situations. There is a 3-4 months' gap between the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. We will be able to assess only after the current polls, which local level groups remain on our (NCP) side and which groups join the Congress. Our alliance with the Congress remains strong and happy and in the current Lok Sabha polls our combined strength will rise to between 34 and 35 seats in Maharashtra alone." |
| Patil conceded that the Congress candidate from Sangli Prakashbapu Vasantrao Patil's ill health had resulted in a low key campaigning by him in this parliamentary constituency. |
| "But the Sangli parliamentary constituency has been a traditional Congress dominated belt. Most of the pockets of local politicians are inclined towards secular parties thought they maintain a distinct identity. There is also a strong sentiment of Sahuji Maharaj in this constituency and the Congress should have no trouble winning this seat," he says. |
| Unlike regions of the Western belt like Solapur, Baramati, Jalgaon where individual political heavyweights enjoy undisputed control over the entire region, in Sangli, Karad, Kolhapur, Ichalkaranji and Satara, the ground level political equations are much different. |
| "It is true that in these (Sangli, Kolhapur, Karad, Ichalkarnaji and Satara) regions there are several political pocketburoughs of strength that exist. Therefore, it is a combination of individual pockets that decide the fate of the parliamentary constituency," he said. |
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