Kapil Patil: Building BJP Bastion In Bhiwandi (image: facebook.com/kapilpatilforbhiwandi)

Kapil Moreshwar Patil currently serves as the Minister of State in the Ministry of Panchayati Raj. Two-time BJP MP from Bhiwandi constituency in Maharashtra, in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls, he is seeking a third consecutive term.

Kapil Patil, who was earlier associated with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), shifted allegiance to the BJP in 2014. In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, he contested successfully against Congress nominee Patil Vishwanath Ramchandra by a margin of 1,09,450 votes. In the 2019 elections, he retained the seat by defeating Congress rival Suresh Kashinath Taware by a margin of 1,56,329 votes.

A grassroots leader, Kapil Patil began his political journey as a Sarpanch of the Dive-Anjur Gram Panchayat and following he held several positions, including member of the Bhiwandi Panchayat Samiti, president of the Bhiwandi Panchayat Samiti, and president of Thane Zilla Parishad. He has also served as the chairman of the Thane District Cooperative Bank. In 2020, Kapil Patil exercised the responsibility of vice president of the Maharashtra BJP.

In 2021, when the Modi government reshuffled the cabinet, he got a ministerial position in the Union government. Besides, as a parliamentarian, he has been serving as a member of the standing committee on urban development, a member of the standing committee on defence and committee on the absence of members from the sittings of the House.

Kapil Patil belongs to the OBC community. He is the sole BJP MP from Thane, which is touted as the stronghold of Shiv Sena. Bhiwandi parliamentary constituency has always been dominated by the Congress and NCP until Kapil Patil began to make inroads for the BJP.