His party, the NCP, had lost confidence in his ability to win elections, but sitting MLA Vilas Lande harboured no such doubts. Despite losing Lok Sabha elections from Shirur by a huge margin, Lande believed that he was “unbeatable” when it came to Assembly election. Lande refused calls from party leaders to withdraw from the race at Bhosari, paid the price as he was ousted from the party, and then outsmarted two women candidates - Sulbha Ubale of the Shiv Sena and Mangala Kadam of NCP, though by a thin margin of only 1,200 votes.

“I was denied the ticket despite my performance as MLA. I was thrust in the Lok Sabha election ring after other party leaders shied away. I was nominated for Shirur just three weeks before the polls - it meant I hardly had time to campaign. Yet I took on Shivajirao Adhalrao-Patil who was campaigning for a good three years,” said Lande who trailed his closest rival, Sulbha Ubale, till the 20th round.

What weighed in Lande’s favour was his popularity among the residents of Bhosari and the demographic make-up the suburb which is dominated by the Landes, Landges, Phuges, Gavahanes, Pathares and their friends. No matter which political ideologies they belong, the sons-of-the-soil have a track record of rallying behind their brethren. It also helped that nearly 25 NCP corporators openly campaigned for him.

Lande said he still has not understood why he was denied ticket in the first place. “I had defeated two-time Shiv Sena MLA from Haveli Assembly constituency. If this is not elective merit then I don’t know what is,” he asked.