A degree from UK under his belt, former CM Vasantdada Patil’s great-grandson Harshwardhan Patil enters Sangli Miraj Kupwad civic poll fray

Kolhapur: Harshwardhan Patil, the 23-year-old great-grandson of former chief minister late Vasantdada Patil, is making his electoral debut by contesting for the post of councillor in the Sangli Miraj Kupwad Municipal Corporation election on a Congress ticket.Unlike heirs of prominent politicians who usually wait for bigger elections, Harshwardhan Patil chose to start from the grassroots level by contesting for a councillor's post. In 2024, he earned an MS degree in Operations and Supply Chain Management from the UK's Manchester Metropolitan University, which could have helped him land a good job. Yet, he chose to take forward his family's political legacy.His father, Pratik Patil, was minister of state in UPA govt, his grandfather, Prakashbapu Patil, was Sangli MP for a long time, and his uncle, Vishal Patil, is an independent MP from Sangli.Speaking to TOI during the campaign, Harshwardhan Patil said, "My uncle, Vishal Patil, encouraged me to contest the election. During the Covid lockdown, I helped people get treatment. I got socially engaged for the first time then. I took this election as a challenge. I could have become a corporator directly, but I wanted to address the concerns of the citizens first-hand."Harshwardhan did his graduation in business administration from MIT-Pune before leaving for the UK for higher studies. His father, former Union MoS Pratik Patil, said, "During Vishal's election, Harshwardhan, though he could not physically join the campaign, handled all the social media activities from the UK. He led the campaign on social media during night hours after classes, when it was daytime here in India."For the past several days, Harshwardhan Patil has been campaigning in the ward and identifying issues in an area with a mixed population, including an affluent section and another living in shanties and on daily wages. "There is a stark difference in their issues. There are problems with roads, drains, lights, and water across the ward. There are no municipal schools and sanitation facilities, which I want to prioritise. There is a gunthewari area where spending municipal funds is restricted. There is also a growing menace of substance and liquor abuse, mainly among young people. I will take them into confidence, help them get jobs and education," Harshwardhan Patil added.Harshwardhan Patil faces a significant burden of responsibility due to the political legacy, as Vasantdada Patil was described as revolutionary and as having fought against the British before Independence. He also faces an uphill task in the election as prominent former corporators from the ward, who were earlier with Congress, joined BJP.