Patil, 75, a former Union minister, was welcomed into the party by NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar, state chief Jayant Patil and other senior leaders.

Pawar and Patil praised his leadership qualities and said his return would boost the party's prospects in Nanded, Hingoli, Parbhani, Beed and other districts.

On June 22, Patil abruptly quit the BJP after being dropped as a Lok Sabha candidate following the party's poor performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Patil, who was first with the Congress and then the undivided NCP, joined the BJP in 2014 and had sought the party ticket from Hingoli in 2024, but this time he was denied nomination as the seat went under the quota of ruling ally Shiv Sena. Went.

Shiv Sena had fielded Baburao K Kohalikar, but he lost to rival Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Nagesh B Patil-Ashtekar by over 1.08 lakh votes.

Political sources are optimistic that Patil's entry into the NCP (SP) could compensate for the departure of former Nanded Congress stalwart Ashok Chavan to the BJP, as well as give a boost to the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly elections in October. .