Congress Likely To Hit 100 Seats In Lok Sabha As Maharashtra Rebel Comes Back To Fold

The Congress significantly improved its performance in the Lok Sabha elections this election season and secured 99 seats - falling just one seat short of crossing the three-digit mark. However, the Grand Old Party has now reached the milestone. The Mallikarjun Kharge-led party has added one more MP to its tally.

Vishal Patil, a Congress rebel, who won as an Independent candidate from the Sangli in Maharashtra has decided to rejoin the party he abandoned. He defeated BJP's Sanjaykaka Patil. Patil is the grandson of Vasantdada Patil, former Maharashtra CM.

Patil decided to contest independently after Sangli was allocated to the Shiv Sena (UBT) under the seat-sharing agreement among the MVA partners, causing friction. Congress' repeated appeals to the Uddhav Thackeray-led party to reconsider its decision to field a candidate from Sangli went in vain.

On Thursday, Patil extended his support to Congress. Party MLA Vishwajit Kadam, who had advocated for Patil within the party, confirmed this development, stating that the latter's support would increase Congress' strength in the Lok Sabha to 100 seats.

Patil, along with Kadam, met with Congress leaders including Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, and Rahul Gandhi. Patil handed over his letter of support to the party here.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge welcomed Patil's support in a post on X, expressing his approval of the move.

To formally recognize Patil as an associate MP of the Congress, approval from the Lok Sabha secretariat is required. If approved, this will officially bring the Congress party's tally to 100 seats in the Lok Sabha.

Potential Addition

Pappu Yadav, another independent candidate who won the Purnea seat in Bihar, is also expected to support the Congress. Yadav had merged his party with Congress before the elections. However, due to Purnea being allocated to RJD in the Bihar Opposition's seat-sharing arrangement, Yadav contested as an Independent.