Former CM Ashok Chavan may return as state Congress president

Mumbai While the election process for the post of Congress president will be kicked off this month, there are chances of a change of guard in the state Congress as well

Mumbai While the election process for the post of Congress president will be kicked off this month, there are chances of a change of guard in the state Congress as well. Former chief minister Ashok Chavan is likely to make a comeback at the helm of the Maharashtra Congress.

Apart from Chavan, who was the state Congress president from 2015 to 2019, the names of former minister of state Satej (Bunty) Patil and former minister Yashomati Thakur are also doing the rounds (Hindustan Times)

“A section of the party is pitching for Chavan as state president... However, any decision will be taken only after the elections to the national president are through,” said a senior Congress leader.

Apart from Chavan, who was the state Congress president from 2015 to 2019, the names of former minister of state Satej (Bunty) Patil and former minister Yashomati Thakur are also doing the rounds. Alternatively, incumbent Nana Patole, an OBC leader from Vidarbha, where the Congress retains its social base, may also continue in the post.

The filing of nominations for the Congress president’s election will begin on September 24 and the polling will take place on October 17. In case of a contest, the votes will be counted and the results declared on October 19. Changes in the state units are likely to be made after this.

The meeting of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) state executive that was held in the city on Monday approved a resolution requesting senior leader Rahul Gandhi to take over as the party president. Another resolution authorizing Sonia Gandhi to appoint the state unit chief, office bearers and All India Congress Committee (AICC) delegates from Maharashtra was also moved by MPCC president Nana Patole and approved unanimously.

However, an MPCC functionary said that it was for the party’s central leadership to shuffle the pack in any state. “We have approved a resolution authorising Sonia-ji to decide on these appointments,” he said.

Chavan was the chief minister of Maharashtra from 2008 to 2010 and stepped down after allegations in the Adarsh housing society case. He was elected as a Lok Sabha MP from Nanded in 2014, but faced a shock defeat in 2019 at the hands of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Pratap Patil Chikhalikar. Chavan was, however, elected to the state assembly and was the public works department (PWD) minister in the erstwhile Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition.

It is rumoured that Chavan is in touch with the BJP, but these claims have been stoutly denied by him.

“Though Chavan is perhaps the only Congress leader at present to have a command over the politics in his district… he had quit as the MPCC president after losing the Lok Sabha elections as he wanted to focus on local politics, where he is facing a challenge from the BJP,” said a Chavan confidante. He added that the issue was not restricted to just having a new state president for Maharashtra but the larger issue of an organisational inertia, lack of leaders willing to take ownership and last-mile connectivity.