He represented the Sangli constituency of Maharashtra and is a member of the Indian National Congress (INC) political party.
He was the Minister of State for Youth Affairs an Sports in the Manmohan Singh Cabinet in UPA II when Ajay Maken was heading the ministry.
He was also a member of the 14th Lok Sabha from Sangli, Maharashtra after he won the bypoll held due to death of his father, Prakashbapu Vasantdada Patil.
Since 2019 he took a backstage giving the torch to his younger brother, who contested the Sangli Lok Sabha Constituency elections in 2019.
In 2024 when the Lok Sabha seat of Sangli went to Shiv Sena UBT in the Maha Vikas Aghadi, Vishal Patil was forced to contest as Independent candidate and he was the one who took the elections in his hands and helped Vishal Patil gain support of VBA chief Prakash Ambedkar and other leaders within the district across parties.