Congress appoints Nana Patole as chief of its Maharashtra unit

The party also appointed six working presidents instead of the existing five, most of whom have been accommodated in the state cabinet

The All India Congress Committee (AICC) on Friday appointed Nana Patole, 56, its four-term legislator from Sakoli in Bhandara district, as its Maharashtra unit chief. The party also appointed six working presidents -- former ministers Shivajirao Moghe, Chandrakant Handore, Arif Naseem Khan, Basavraj Patil and young MLAs Praniti Sushilkumar Shinde and Kunal Rohidas Patil – instead of the existing five, most of whom have been accommodated in the state cabinet.

Nana Patole at a protest held by Maratha community, at Azad Maidan on Friday. (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT Photo)

Patole resigned as the Assembly speaker on Thursday evening. The party is now considering senior legislators KC Padvi, Sangram Thopate and Suresh Varpudkar for the post.

The AICC has also appointed 10 new vice-presidents, including Ramesh Bagwe, Hussain Dalwai, Shirish Chaudhari and Mohan Joshi, among others. The party has replaced its parliamentary board under the new state president. The 37-member board comprises former chief ministers Ashok Chavan, Prithviraj Chavan, former cabinet ministers Shivraj Patil Chakurkar, Milind Deora, Mukul Wasnik, Vilas Muttemwar.

Keeping an eye on the ensuing Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections, the party has appointed two working presidents from Mumbai. Khan is the party’s Muslim face, while Handore is a prominent Dalit leader. Moghe is a tribal leader from Vidarbha, while Basavraj Patil, a Lingayat, has been appointed to represent Marathwada. He is the only working president from the outgoing team of five to be retained. Praniti, the daughter of Sushilkumar Shinde, and Kunal, son of former minister Rohidas Patil, represent western and north Maharashtra. Konkan has, however, been not given any representation.

Patole said, “My aim is to take the party to the top position in the state. The Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government is stable and enjoys a thumping majority. There are no differences within the ruling parties. We have taken key Shiv Sena and NCP leaders into confidence while making the changes. Soniaji spoke to Sena chief Uddhavji Thackeray and NCP president Sharad Pawarsaheb.”

Pawar on Thursday said the decision over the new speaker of the Assembly should be taken by the three ruling parties. This led to speculation over the other two parties staking claim to the post. The Congress has, however, asserted that the next speaker will be from the Congress. Congress’s former state unit chief Manikrao Thakre even said then the party should demand for the post of deputy chief minister. Patole, however, said: “It is his personal opinion.”

Relief and rehabilitation minister Vijay Wadettiwar said there was no question of the post going to any other ruling party. Among the frontrunners for the post, Padvi is the tribal development minister, while Varpudkar is a senior legislator and former minister from Marathwada. Thopte is elected from Pune district and is considered as a staunch rival of Pawar.

Patole is seen as an aggressive leader from Vidarbha, an erstwhile stronghold where the party now faces strong competition from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He has influence in the peasant Kunbi community. In several parts of the region, the community supported the Congress in the 2019 Assembly elections. Patole began as a Congress leader and later shifted to the BJP. He was elected as a BJP MP in 2014 from the Bhandara-Gondia constituency, but in December 2017, he quit the party by criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi and returned to the Congress. He was elected to the state Assembly in 2019 and was made Speaker when the MVA formed the government.

Political analyst Pratap Asbe said Patole’s organisational skills are yet to be proved, but he enjoys mass support in parts of Vidarbha. “Not being part of the state Cabinet, unlike incumbent chief Balasaheb Thorat, will help him in asserting the party position on political issues.”

According to a Congress leader, the new appointments have struck regional and caste balance and have given due representation to new and old leaders. “Leaders like Moghe, Khan and Basavraj Patil have been elevated after they lost the elections in 2019,” he said.