I will carry the baton of trust left by my husband: R R Patil's wife

It was an emotionallycharged day for Suman Patil yesterday Two months after the death of her husband Nationalist Congress Party NCP stalwart and former Home minister R R Patil Suman was elected to the state assembly with a thumping victory margin in the byelection from TasgaonKavathe Mahankal constituencySuman Patil said that while her husband was seen as an Aaba or elder brother she would prefer if people thought of her as their younger sisterSuman secured more than 131 lakh votes paving the way for her victory against nine other candidates in the constituency defeating her nearest competitor by a margin of a whopping 112963 votes The bypoll was necessitated by the death of R R Patil on February 16Sidelines to forefrontFiftyyearold Suman is a homemaker and had never been in the limelight until her husbandrsquos death The NCP decided to field her against nine Independent candidates including Swapnil Patil a BJP rebel while other political parties decided not to contest the byelectionThe counting started at 8 am yesterday at the administrative building of Tasgaon During the counting Suman was sitting next to her husbandrsquos photograph at home After her victory was announced she stepped out with her daughter Smita and collected the certificate from the election officerSpeaking to midday a tearyeyed Suman said ldquoI want to thank the voters who believe in my family I will maintain their trust till my last breath My family is still recovering from the pain of my husbandrsquos death My husband was considered an elder brother by locals which was reflected in how they addressed him Aaba elder brother but I would prefer if people address me as their younger sisterI will march on the path laid down by their Aaba which he paved for peoplersquos benefitrdquo ldquoAfter my husbandrsquos death I received many calls and letters from people which would boost my morale They would tell me about their grievances which were resolved by my husband when he was alive While I was always aware that he was helpful I never realised the kind of issues he resolvedThese letters helped me understand that my husband was a ray of hope for the people and to maintain that my family will have to stand up for their rights I shall fulfil all the dreams of the people which is exactly what my husband wanted to and used to do For me politics is a new world But my husband was more of a social worker than a politician and I will march on the same path to maintain my husbandrsquos imagerdquo she addedDaughter speakSumanrsquos daughter Smita Patil is currently pursuing her law degree from a Mumbaibased college The 23yearold said ldquoMy mother never actively participated when my father was in politics She rarely took part when my father would campaign Instead she would attend events related to womenrsquos empowerment held in our constituencyBut people have proved today that they trust her and it has encouraged her to work for their benefitrdquo ldquoMy father did not like that his constituency was tagged a droughtaffected area It was his dream to remove that stereotype from peoplersquos minds and to make the constituency the best in the field of agricultureWe will focus on the same issue along with womenrsquos empowerment and providing employment to youngstersrdquo she added Election officer Hemant Nikam told midday ldquoSuman Patil won with a strong margin The counting started at 8 am and was conducted peacefully We announced the final result at 1130 amrdquo