Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and a few ministers in the Congress-NCP government in the state were present at Vidhan Bhawan, when Patel filed the papers.
NCP leader Tariq Anwar, who was elected to Lok Sabha, has quit his Rajya Sabha seat.
The decision to field Patel was taken at a meeting of the NCP Parliamentary Board in Mumbai recently.
Patel, who represented Bhandara-Gondiya constituency in 15th Lok Sabha, lost to Nana Patole of BJP in recent elections.
Image: Praful Patel