Pune: Political Atmosphere in Shirur Turns Toxic as Amol Kolhe Goes Aggressive Against Adhalrao Patil
Varad Bhatkhande
Shirur, 6th May 2024: The country is abuzz with the Lok Sabha Elections, eagerly anticipated by all. Accusations and allegations are flying between parties as they vie for voter support. The political atmosphere in Shirur has turned toxic, largely due to the aggressive stance taken by Mahavikas Aghadi candidate Dr Amol Kolhe, who has levelled significant allegations against Mahayuti Candidate Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil.
Dr Kolhe, the sitting MP of Shirur from the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar), has been at the forefront of this contentious campaign. Adhalrao Patil, a former Shiv Sena leader and three-time MP from Shirur, recently switched allegiance to the NCP (Ajit Pawar) just before the Lok Sabha elections to secure a ticket from Mahayuti for Shirur Lok Sabha. Thus, this election in Shirur pits NCP against NCP, with factions loyal to both Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar pitted against each other.
In the previous elections, Dr. Kolhe emerged victorious over Adhalrao Patil. This is round 2 between Adhalrao Patil and Dr Kolhe, and allegations and accusations have become serious. Dr Kolhe has responded to the challenge posed by Shivajirao Adharao Patil by releasing a video and appealing to the people to wake up.
What Happened in Shirur?
Dr Kolhe released a video yesterday on his social media handles regarding the ‘challenges’ made by Adhalrao Patil in one of his speeches. Amol Kolhe raised the issue that Adhalrao Patil asked questions as an MP in Parliament for personal gain. While replying to that, Adhalrao Patil countered that he would withdraw his candidature if evidence was provided. In this regard, Amol Kolhe has presented the documents of the questions asked by Adhalrao Patil in Parliament in this video.
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What Did Amol Kolhe Say on Social Media?
Showing a bunch of papers in the video, Dr. Kolhe said, “Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil had given me a challenge. I was questioning if the people of Shirur Constituency elected Adhalrao Patil to raise the issues of Shirur for 15 years, but he, on the contrary, raised the maximum number of questions about the defence department to whitewash his company. He said, ‘Show proof regarding this and I’ll withdraw myself from these elections.’ I have come back with proofs.”
In this video, Amol Kolhe read out the information from the documents regarding the questions asked by Adhalrao Patil in Parliament from 7th April 2017 to 13th February 2019. Also, Amol Kolhe said there are still many documents, and Adhalrao Patil will have to answer them. He further said, “If Adhalrao Patil is true to his words, then he should answer the citizens of Shirur. In 15 years, he was an MP; no big project came to Shirur. But what project came out of the questions he asked about war materials? He asked a wide range of questions regarding the Defense Department. He should answer all of this.” Kolhe asked further, “I have given proofs. Now, are you true to your words? Will you withdraw?”
Amol Kolhe also asked Adhalrao Patil to apologize in his social media video. He said, “‘Dummy’ candidate Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil Dada, take this proof! Now, if you are true to your word, then withdraw. At the same time, apologize to the people of Shirur who gave you a chance for 15 years.”
Adhalrao Patil’s Response:
After these serious allegations and arguments, everyone was eager to see how Adhalrao Patil would react. During one of his campaigns, he was approached by members of the media and questioned about this. Adhalrao Patil denied these allegations, saying they were misleading and provided without context. He stated, “I was not alone in asking these questions; there were 5 more MPs who also raised similar questions in parliament. The defence information is confidential and cannot be made public.” He also stated that this video mentions submarines, and there isn’t any relation between my company and submarines. He further mentioned, “I resigned from the post of the company Kolhe mentions two decades ago, which I found. These tactics are meant to mislead people, and soon I’ll come back with a response.”
Dr. Kolhe’s Knockout Punch?
Adhalrao Patil said he would be back with a response, but without wasting any time, Dr Kolhe released another video on his social media handles within hours. In this video, Dr Kolhe highlighted Adhalrao Patil’s response of “no relation of my companies with submarines” and went on to allegedly “expose” him. After that, the video asks, “Adhalrao, how much more will you lie?” The video further shows the Dynalog company website, which belongs to Adhalrao Patil, where it is written under turnkey projects that Dynalog created the Torpedo Fire Control System, which is used only in submarines.
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Adhalrao Patil hasn’t replied to these allegations yet, as Dr Kolhe strategically posted it at night. People have watched this video, and some are saying that Dr. Kolhe’s video has knocked out Adhalrao Patil. Dr. Kolhe is releasing videos on his social media handles, and they are going viral. Today, people are anticipating Adhalrao’s response.
