Maharashtra BJP leader Harshvardhan Patil on Saturday said he would take a decision on contesting upcoming assembly polls from his traditional Indapur seat in Pune's Baramati tehsil after 'Pitru paksha' is over.

Speculation has been rife over the past few days that Patil may switch sides, most likely to the NCP (SP), to contest polls.

While Patil had won from Indapur in the 1995, 1999, 2004 and 2009 polls as an Independent as well as on a Congress ticket, in 2014 and 2019, the seat was won by Nationalist Congress Party's Dattatray Bharne.

Patil had lost to Bharne in the 2019 assembly polls by a margin of 3,110 votes.

Bharne is now with the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP, which is part of the ruling alliance along with the BJP and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena.

While the seat sharing formula has not been finalised in the ruling alliance, it is likely Indapur seat will go to the Ajit Pawar faction if the parties get seats on which they have sitting MLAs.

Speaking to reporters here, Patil said, "For the past few days I have been holding a 'janata darbar' (public interaction) in my constituency. Many persons are insisting that I contest upcoming assembly polls from Indapur. Since I consider the opinion of people supreme in a democracy, I need to take a decision." "I will take a decision on these demands of my constituency persons once Pitru paksha is over," he added.

Pitru paksha is a 16-lunar day period in the Hindu calendar when people pay respects to their ancestors and it is generally considered inauspicious to start something new during this time.

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