As the battle between NCP (SP) candidate Dhairyasheel Mohite Patil and the sitting BJP MP Ranjitsinh Naik Nimbalkar heats up, this reporter interacted with the former at his newly constructed Maratha-style mansion in Malshiras, which is surrounded by farms on all sides.

People were waiting to meet the former BJP leader whom they address as Dhairyasheel Bhaiya. In a brief interview with mid-day, Mohite Patil accused Nimbalkar of doing nothing for the constituency in the past five years and said his priorities are solving water and irrigation-related issues and creating employment opportunities for youngsters so that they don`t have to migrate to cities for jobs. Excerpts: