Thorat and Patole will work together, says Chennithala

The communication exercise was started after infighting among state Congress president Nana Patole and Congress legislative party leader Balasaheb Thorat came to the fore recently.

Mumbai: Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala, on a two-day visit to the city, got down immediately to the task of meeting former ministers, MLAs and office-bearers of the Maharashtra Congress to get a sense of whether leaders were happy with the existing arrangement in the state unit.

On Monday, Chennithala had one-on-one meetings with several senior leaders, including Patole, and sought their views on the state of affairs in the state Congress. The meetings will continue on Tuesday, as many leaders, including Thorat, are busy campaigning for the Pune by-elections. (HT PHOTO)

Chennithala will submit his report to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge for further action. After Kharge’s election last year, a new executive committee is expected in Maharashtra. There are indications that the state unit will see a lot of changes in the coming days.

The communication exercise was started after infighting among state Congress president Nana Patole and Congress legislative party leader Balasaheb Thorat came to the fore recently. Thorat resigned from the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader on February 2, questioning Patole’s style of functioning, and declared that it was difficult to work with him.

Thorat was upset after his maternal nephew and former state youth Congress president Satyajeet Tambe was denied a ticket for the council elections at the eleventh hour, and, subsequently, Satyajeet and his father Dr Sudhir Tambe were suspended for six years without taking him into confidence. Congress In-Charge H K Patil had come down to Mumbai to pacify Thorat. Patole, however, denied any rift with Thorat.

On Monday, Chennithala had one-on-one meetings with several senior leaders, including Patole, and sought their views on the state of affairs in the state Congress. The meetings will continue on Tuesday, as many leaders, including Thorat, are busy campaigning for the Pune by-elections.

“There is not much of a problem in the state Congress,” Chennithala told reporters. “All the senior leaders were present for the executive committee meeting held on February 15. The Lok Sabha elections are approaching, and the Congress president has sent me here to see that the party is strengthened and works unitedly.” When asked about the rift between Thorat and Patole, the senior Congress leader said that both would work together and ensure that the party got the maximum seats in the upcoming polls.

A leader, however, expressed his doubts about Patole. “The BJP is weakening all political parties one by one—the Shiv Sena is a perfect example of this,” he said. “The situation demands a leader who believes in team work and is capable of keeping the party united. This is missing in the current scenario,”

Despite the reported complaints, Congressmen believe that the leadership will not take immediate action. “I doubt Patole will be removed. He is likely to be given a chance to improve the situation,” a Congress leader stressed.

This is not the first time the Congress is showing up as a divided house. In June last year, an internal review is said to have estimated that at least six MLAs of the party cross-voted in the legislative council elections, leading to the defeat of former minister and Dalit leader Chandrakant Handore, who was the Congress’ official candidate. Again, on July 4, during the trust vote against the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government, 12 of the 44 Congress legislators had stayed absent or had reached late.

Senior Congress leader Mohan Prakash, who was tasked with examining the reasons for this loss in the council polls and the abstention of 12 legislators during the Shinde regime’s floor test, also filed his report with the leadership but nothing happened.

Congress insiders said that some leaders also conveyed their displeasure against H K Patil to Chennithala. “He was open to hearing views, positive or negative. He was interested in getting a sense of the current situation,” said a senior leader.