Mumbai: With her statesman father-in-law and husband loyal members of the Congress party, it was perhaps only a matter of time before doctor and social worker Archana Patil stepped into the political arena.
However, the Latur entrepreneur’s — the daughter-in-law of senior Congress leader Shivraj Patil, a former Union home minister and Lok Sabha Speaker — choice of party was the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which she joined Saturday.
While it was a tough call to join an ideology that was eyeball-to-eyeball with the Congress, Patil said the difference was made by the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“I have joined the BJP greatly influenced by the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (Women’s Reservation Bill, 2023) brought by Narendra Modi. It gives equal opportunity to women. I want to work with Modiji’s team to build a ‘Viksit Bharat’,” Patil said at her induction.
Her husband, Shailesh Patil Chandurkar, is the Maharashtra secretary of the Congress.
It was not easy for her to ignore the legacy the Patils have built in the state for the Congress, which is now in Opposition. Shivraj Patil was the Lok Sabha Speaker from 1991 to 1996 and Union home minister from 2004 to 2008 under former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He resigned from the post after facing backlash following the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
“Saheb (Shivraj Patil) has had an illustrious career and we are proud of him as a family. However, I felt opportunities in the BJP were better given the crossroads our country is in,” said the MBBS doctor.
Patil said it was a “tough and emotional call”, but the BJP had managed to cut through her initial qualms by chasing her for nearly seven years.
The doctor — who devotes herself more to social work in Latur district, which is part of the Marathwada region — said she did like the Congress’s national leadership but did not find any elbow room to grow in the state.
“If you are in a political family, it is inevitable that you will be a part of it one day. I chose to be in the background for a long time. I felt now was the right time to take the plunge. There was no other trigger,” Patil told ThePrint.
At her formal induction, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said he was happy Shivraj Patil’s daughter-in-law had joined the BJP. “We were after her to join politics for the last five to seven years. I always told her that though Shivraj Patil was in Congress, he had created a legacy of someone who is honest, decent, and value-oriented. I hope she will take that legacy forward,” he said.
Patil’s induction ahead of the general elections will also help the BJP expand its footprint in the Congress’s stronghold of Latur. Fadnavis said Patil’s presence would enable the BJP’s Latur candidate, Sudhakar Shrangare, to win big, and improve the party’s chances in neighbouring Dharashiv.
The deputy chief minister also said the BJP was looking for a long-term leader in her, in keeping with Modi’s efforts to bring up women leaders across the country.
Patil believes she is a foot soldier at the moment. “I will do whatever my party decides. If I am asked to contest the assembly polls, I will,” she said.
Meanwhile, Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe accused the BJP of trying to break families. “They are claiming 400 paar (Will get more than 400 seats)… How? They are taking leaders from other parties. This means the BJP is not confident,” he said.
ThePrint tried to reach Shivraj Patil via phone calls and text messages but could not elicit a response.
‘Social work my first love’
Patil, the chairperson of the Lifecare Hospital and Research Centre in Udgir in Latur, said politics was a natural extension of her social work for doing larger good. “Social work is not going anywhere,” she added.
From Udgir, a small town near Latur, Patil started helping people from 2001, and worked with a non-governmental organisation that focused on women’s issues. including menstrual health. In 2010, she started the Lifecare and Research Hospital, a multispeciality hospital in Udgir.
A high point in her social work was in 2016 when Latur was hit by a severe drought. There was such water scarcity that a train full of water had to be brought in.
“That is when I decided to give free health facilities to farmers in our out-patient departments and 50 percent subsidy to indoor treatment,” she said, highlighting that as her “biggest social contribution”.
The doctor was offered a ticket by the Congress for the 2009 Lok Sabha polls and by the BJP in 2019. She had declined both times.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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