Grandson of Vasantdada Patil to be SSS candidate in Sangli

Vishal Patil,grandson of late Maharashtra chief minister Vasantdada Patil, will be the candidate of the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana (SSS) from the Sangli Lok Sabha seat.

The Congress-NCP combine has allotted the seat to the SSS.

SSS chief Raju Shetti made the announcement of Patil's candidature in Sangli Saturday.

"Patil will file his nomination on April 2," Shetti said.

Vishal Patil had earlier announced that he will contest the Lok Sabha election either as a Congress candidate or as independent.

Finally, it was decided during late-night talks between Shetti and senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan that Vishal Patil will contest as SSS candidate, sources said.

Sangli, a Congress bastion up to 2014, was alloted to the SSS as part of the seat-sharing deal between the Congress, NCP and other constituents of the opposition's alliance.

Congress' Pratik Patil, Vishal's elder brother and a former Union minister, was defeated by Sanjay Kaka Patil of the BJP in the last general elections. It was the first defeat of the Congress in the constituency since 1962.