Hence forth I will not contest in any polls.”said Patil while speaking during a prize distribution ceremony in Kolhapur.Patil’s announcement came as a shock to many as he was considered to be very close to Amit Shah and is known to be Shah’s eyes and ears in the Maharashtra government. Patil came in to contact with Shah when the former was with the Gujarat ABVP.On Friday Patil who was in Mumbai claimed that his remarks on Thursday were ‘spoken in a different context and that he would be contesting the polls if his party wants him to. 'The Revenue Minister also defended Party MLA Ram Kadam who talked of ‘kidnapping’ unwilling women and marrying them off to boys if they approached him saying that Kadam had apologized and the matter should be laid to rest. “There is no reason for creating such a noise over such an issue. He has apologized and he helps women a lot in his constituency and there are so many women trying rakhi to him so the matter should be laid to rest.”said Patil while speaking to the media.

Source: Economic Times September 07, 2018 13:52 UTC