'Outsider' Patil stays in friend's Kothrud house, rents office

Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil, who is making his Assembly poll debut from Kothrud in Pune, has moved into a friend's house in the area. Patil, originally from Kolhapur, faced some dissension earlier on with a section of the party workers claiming he was an "outsider".

"Moving to other places and contesting elections is not a new thing....every party has its arithmetic and plans and workers have been asked to contest elections from a seat in which they don't reside," Patil told a local media channel. He said he was living at a friend's house as the latter insisted that he do so, adding that he had not signed any agreement for the same.

The senior BJP leader said he had rented an office in Kothrud to interact with people. He is pitted against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's Kishor Shinde, who is backed by Congress and NCP..