Nana Patole to campaign in Rahul Gandhi, Shashi Tharoor seats

After finishing a tough campaign against BJP leader Nitin Gadkari in Nagpur Lok Sabha constituency, Congress leader and Chairman of All India Kisan Congress Nana Patole has been given the responsibility to campaign for Congress President Rahul Gandhi's Wayanad and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor's Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seats in Kerala.

While confirming the development to DNA, Patole that he had asked party leadership allow him to campaign in Maharashtra however the party entrusted him with this added responsibility as well. It is notable that Patole had defeated the senior NCP leader Praful Patel by 1.45 lakh votes in 2014 Lok Sabha polls. However, after differences of opinion with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Patole left the BJP in a hush and joined hands with the Congress.

In 2019, Rahul Gandhi pitted Patole against BJP stalwart Nitin Gadkari. Patole in a bid to defeat Gadkari is working on consolidating the DMK (Dalit, Muslim, Kunbi) plus Halba communities in Nagpur. Patole's aggressive campaign meant that Gadkari holed up in his constituency during the polls and couldn't campaign elsewhere till the polling in his constituency got over. Moreover, Patole's candidacy also helped the Congress to revive its cadre and caste combinations in seven seats of Vidarbha in this high voltage poll.