Kolhapur: The joint rally of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray was not only a show of strength but also helped the local leaders of both the parties bury their differences, as was evident from the humongous turnout of workers at the rally on Sunday.Rifts had emerged in the Shiv Sena in the last few days with few MLAs and leaders expressing their resentment on renomination of Sanjay Mandlik for the Lok Sabha in Kolhapur. A faction in Shiv Sena considers Mandlik as an outsider as he is the son of late Congress leader Sadashiv Mandlik. However, all six MLAs in Kolhapur district were present at the rally despite their views on the party nominee.Shiv Sena had some doubts about guardian minister Chandrakant Patil, who shares a personal bond with NCP candidate Dhananjay Mahadik. BJP MLA Amal Mahadik, who is Dhananjay’s cousin, and his wife Shoumika, who is president of Kolhapur zilla parishad, were spotted on the dais. Sena has raised questions about their loyalty. Sources in the Shiv Sena said that BJP was trying to show who is the big brother in the joint rally of the Sena-BJP alliance even though both seats in Kolhapur district are being contested by Shiv Sena. BJP is contesting the Lok Sabha seat in Sangli, neighbouring Kolhapur.Narendra Patil, leader of headload workers in Mumbai, joined the Shiv Sena in the rally. Patil will be fighting the Lok Sabha elections from Satara on a Sena ticket. He will be taking on NCP candidate Udayanraje Bhosale.Patil had joined BJP a few months back. BJP had wanted to field Patil from Satara. However, Sena was reluctant to give up the seat. Uddhave Thackeray told in the rally that he had personally asked BJP leaders to allow Patil to join Shiv Sena so that he can fight as a Sena candidate. Sena was not finding any strong candidate who could take on Bhosale.The other parties of the saffron alliance finally made their presence felt with RPI’s Ramdas Aathwale, Rayat Kranti Sanghatana’s Sadabhau Khot, Rashtriya Samaj Party’s Mahadeo Jankar and Shivsangram Vinayak Mete being present for the rally on Sunday. Khot and Jankar have considerable stronghold in Kolhapur and Hatkanangale constituencies.

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