Patil, who arrived by helicopter for a meeting of the NCP legislative party at the NCP office in Nariman Point, had applied for accommodation as an ordinary MLA at the Manora MLA hostel, a stone’s throw from Mantralaya. However, the room allotted to Patil in the A wing of the hostel was reportedly undergoing renovation and he had to put up in NCP Bhandup MLA Sanjay Patil’s room. The unending stream of visitors to the room after the NCP legislative party meeting testified to his popularity in spite of his relinquishing his post.

Patil’s close associate and Minority Commission Chairperson Nasim Siddiqui, NCP MLA from Haveli in Pune Vilas Lande, NCP MLC Jitendra Awhad, NCP leader from Sangli Iliyas Naikwadi and Karad MLA and state co- operative sugar factories federation chairman Balasaheb Patil were among the people who visited him before he flew back to Sangli. Patil’s erstwhile aides from his deputy chief ministerial days were also in attendance with one of the aides revealing that they had sought a day’s leave to be with Patil. Sanjay Patil told The Indian Express that the “value of his room would increase” if a senior leader like R R Patil used it.

However, with Patil falling out of favour with his party chief, the knives are inevitably out and NCP leaders have started speaking out against his “indecisive” style of functioning and his habit of shooting his mouth before the media. A senior NCP MLA, who is also a former minister, claimed that party chief and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar had warned Patil against speaking to the media after the terror attacks at a meeting held at the Yashwantrao Chavan Pratisthan and said Patil’s decision to air his views publicly even after the reprimand may have been one reason why he lost his job.