IN A state now well acquainted with last-minute changes of heart, one more awaited it Monday, the last day of withdrawal of nominations. Twenty-five minutes to go for the deadline – or, in other words, leaving her party barely any window – Congress Kolhapur North candidate Madhurimaraje Chhatrapati announced she was dropping out of the race.

In the 24 hours since, there have been recriminations, explanations, emotional speeches and tears. But that’s hardly any solace for the Maharashtra Congress, which dropped a sitting MLA to pick a party worker, then dropped the loyal worker for the ‘royal’ Madhurimaraje – in the process giving the rival Mahayuti coalition a lifeline in the area.

Its sitting MLA Jayashree Jadhav is now with the Shinde Shiv Sena, while the loyal worker is now a rebel candidate, whom the option-less Congress has now given its blessing.

In all this, Congress insiders say, the one nursing the deepest wound is MLC and senior Kolhapur party leader Satej Patil, who has barely been able to hide his emotions since the drama started around 2.25 pm Monday. That was when Madhurimaraje arrived at the poll office, accompanied by her husband Malojiraje and father-in-law and Kolhapur Congress Lok Sabha MP Shahu Maharaj Chhatrapati, descendants of the Kolhapur royal family.

Sensing something amiss in this montage so close to the 3 pm deadline to withdraw names, Patil rushed to the office – only to watch Malojiraje leading wife Madhurimaraje out, the deed having been done. A distraught Patil lashed out: “I don’t support this, it is wrong. The decision should have been taken earlier… If you had no guts, you should not have come forward.”

Patil’s stab was at the fact that Madhurimaraje was not the original choice of the Congress, which had given the ticket to Rajesh Latkar, a local worker with a socialist background. The argument for dropping the sitting MLA was that the party wanted to give an opportunity to an ordinary worker, with Latkar being picked after a screening process.

However, protests against Latkar’s name forced a rethink in the Congress, which is when Madhurimaraje threw her hat in the ring. It wasn’t really a surprise given that the 47-year-old has links to political royalty herself, being the daughter of former Maharashtra minister Digvijay Khanwilkar.

No one expected, hence, the Monday swivel.

Latkar, who had filed his nomination as an Independent after being dropped by the Congress, meanwhile, made himself scarce on Monday till the deadline ended. Surfacing later, he declared his firm support for “secular and progressive politics”, and his loyalty for Patil – keeping mum on Madhurimaraje.

Soon after, Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole declared the Maha Vikas Aghadi’s support for Latkar.

There was more drama in store, with videos surfacing by evening of Patil and Shahu Chhatrapati at a political function exchanging pleasantries and together welcoming BJP Kolhapur leader Rahul Desai into the Congress.

If Congress leaders feel bad for anyone, it is Patil. He has been skilfully leading the party in the agriculturally rich Western Maharashtra, and in Kolhapur in particular. Last month, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visited Kolhapur to inaugurate a statue of Shivaji.

In the 2019 Assembly elections, Patil was credited with the Congress winning four of the 10 seats in Kolhapur district. In this year’s Lok Sabha polls, he again helped the party win the Kolhapur seat. Given this, Congress workers expected the party’s tally in Kolhapur to rise in the coming Assembly elections.

However, Madhurimaraje’s withdrawal has given a second wind to the Mahayuti, otherwise seen as on the backfoot in most seats of the district. Sources in the Mahayuti claim a fighting chance now in not only Kolkapur North but also a couple of adjoining seats.