For the NCP brass, sitting MLA from Haveli Vilas Lande was the blue-eyed boy in April as he was chosen to contest Shirur Lok Sabha constituency against sitting Shiv Sena MP Shivajirao Adhalrao-Patil. Having lost that fight, Lande has been denied party ticket for the Assembly polls.

Haveli is now divided between Pimpri, Chinchwad and Bhosari Assembly segments post delimitation and NCP deemed it fit to ease him out. Lande, however, thinks he is a better candidate than Mangala Kadam, the NCP’s official candidate, and is taking her on. But Shiv Sena’s Sulbha Ubale believes she has an edge as the two NCP leaders are likely to eat into each other’s votes.

Significantly, Lande’s act of defiance has not led to an automatic ouster for him from the party unlike in the case of many other rebels. Lande is also playing it safe by not resigning from the party.

An NCP leader said, “Lande is playing safe by not quitting the party even after taking on the official candidates and is keeping his options. The party has not taken any action against him, indicating that the party does not want to lose him in case he gets elected,” the leader said.

Lande feels aggrieved that his willingness to take on Adhalrao-Patil in the last minute as a replacement for party chief Sharad Pawar who opted out for Madha against Shirur, has not been appreciated. “I have the support of many NCP corporators and party cadre. I have nurtured the constituency in last five years and it was improper for the party to ignore me,” Lande said.

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