As former Congress MLA Ravindra Dhangekar resigned from the party on Monday to join Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, NCP (SP) leader Jitendra Awhad taunted Minister Chandrakant Patil, telling him not to ask "Who is Dhangekar?" anymore.

"Chandrakant Patil saheb, don't ask from now on 'Who is Dhangekar?' because he is now your ally," Awhad wrote on X.

For the uninitiated, Patil's “Who is Dhangekar?” remark, made after the Congress nominated Dhangekar for the Kasba bypoll, had created a lot of political noise, especially after Dhangekar won the bypoll by defeating BJP's Hemant Rasane.

In the Kasba Peth by-election, the results of which were declared on March 2, Congress-MVA candidate Ravindra Dhangekar trounced BJP's Hemant Rasane by more than 10,800 votes.

Kasba bypoll

Dhangekar's victory in the Kasba Peth Assembly by-polls, a BJP Brahmin bastion, was impressive in many ways. The by-polls were necessitated by the death of sitting MLA Mukta Tilak, a great-granddaughter-in-law of freedom fighter Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak.

However, after the bypoll, Dhangekar was defeated twice by BJP—once in the Lok Sabha poll by Murlidhar Mohol in Pune, and the second time by Hemant Rasane in the Kasba assembly seat. The leader was speculated to quit Congress and join Shinde Sena for the past month, although he had denied any such move when asked by the media. Now, on Monday, Dhangekar announced his resignation and plans to join Shinde Sena.

Speaking to reporters, Dhangekar said he would meet Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday evening, and after that, a decision to join the party would be made.

"It is painful to leave the Congress. Everybody made efforts for me in the elections, but there are sentiments of my supporters and voters that I should take a decision to ensure that (development) works in the constituency (Kasba) take place," he said.