Jayant Patil Meets Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis Over Mayor’s Disqualification, Rejects Proposed Increase in Legislative Seats

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Patil said the issue concerned the Mayor of Urun-Ishwarpur, Nagaraj Dixit, who had been elected with a margin of nearly 7,000 votes. According to Patil, a complaint was submitted to the District Collector, following which the Mayor was disqualified. Seeking relief, Patil approached the state government to raise the matter.

Patil explained that he had initially intended to discuss the issue with Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, but since Shinde was in New Delhi, he sought an appointment with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis instead. He said the Chief Minister granted him time after 10:30 p.m., and following a lengthy wait, he presented the matter in detail.

According to Patil, the Chief Minister stated that he was not aware of the case but assured him that he would examine the matter. Patil said Fadnavis informed him that he would determine within two days why Mayor Nagaraj Dixit had been disqualified and would contact him after reviewing the case. Patil reiterated that the meeting was strictly related to his Assembly constituency and had no political agenda.

During the interaction, Patil also voiced his disagreement with the reported proposal to increase the number of Members of Parliament and Members of Legislative Assemblies across the country. He said he did not support increasing the number of elected representatives, adding that discussions suggested the strength of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly could rise to around 450 members while the Lok Sabha could expand from 543 seats to nearly 850. Patil emphasized that this was his personal opinion and stated that the party's official position would depend on the views of senior leader Sharad Pawar, Member of Parliament Supriya Sule, and the party's other Members of Parliament.

Responding to speculation about internal differences within the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction), Patil firmly rejected the rumours. He stated that the party remained united under the leadership of Sharad Pawar and that all its leaders continued to work together.

Earlier in the day, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut also defended Patil's meeting with the Chief Minister, dismissing speculation that it was politically motivated. Raut said the meeting was held solely to discuss the alleged illegal disqualification of a councillor from Patil's Assembly constituency in the Islampur, now known as Ishwarpur, region.

Raut said discussions about leaders switching political parties had been circulating for several days but described them as baseless rumours. Referring to Nationalist Congress Party leader Praful Patel, Raut said Patel might have travelled abroad to attend the FIFA World Cup or for another reason, and such developments should not be linked to political speculation.

He further stated that the alleged illegal disqualification of a councillor was a serious matter for democracy and reaffirmed that Jayant Patil remained an important leader of the Nationalist Congress Party led by Sharad Pawar as well as a key leader of the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance. Raut alleged that rumours involving the Shiv Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party, and the Congress were being deliberately spread. He claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Eknath Shinde-led faction had little to showcase politically and therefore such rumours were being circulated to create confusion.

The meeting between Jayant Patil and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has drawn political attention amid ongoing speculation about realignments in Maharashtra politics. However, both Patil and Sanjay Raut maintained that the discussion was exclusively focused on the administrative issue surrounding the disqualification of Mayor Nagaraj Dixit, while Patil also used the opportunity to publicly express his reservations about the proposed expansion of legislative representation in the country.