Who is Nana Patole and why is he expected to lead Congress in Maharashtra?

Nana Patole resigned as the Maharashtra assembly Speaker on Thursday after meeting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi ahead of his expected appointment in a day or two

Nana Patole, 56, the four-time legislator from Bhandara expected to be named as the next Maharashtra Congress chief, is seen as an aggressive leader from the Vidarbha region, an erstwhile stronghold where the party now faces strong competition from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He resigned as the Maharashtra assembly Speaker on Thursday after meeting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi ahead of his expected appointment in a day or two.

Nana Patole. (HT Archive)

Patole returned to the Congress in 2017, three years after he defected to the BJP. He defeated NCP’s Praful Patel from Bhandara-Gondia constituency in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections on a BJP ticket. Patole hit the headlines in 2017 when he criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi before quitting the BJP. Within days of his re-induction, Patole was appointed as the Congress’s farmers’ wing chief. He was elected as an assembly member for the fourth time in 2019 and became the Speaker.

The Congress is believed to chosen Patole as it wanted an aggressive non-Maratha leader from the Vidarbha region for the role who could assert the party’s position in the competition among the state’s four major political parties--allies Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) as well as the BJP.

The political space in Maharashtra is crowded and the party seeks an aggressive leader to make his presence felt. Many in the state Congress unit feel that the party lags behind Shiv Sena and the NCP, which have ambitious expansion plans.

Patole belongs to the Kunbi community, which falls under the Other Backward Class category. The community is counted among the Congress supporters in the Vidarbha region.

Patole has been vocal on the issues of farmers and is not seen to be allied to any group within the state Congress.

A Congress leader said Maharashtra Congress was divided into two groups and pushing for the nomination of minister Vijay Wadettiwar and Rajya Sabha member Rajiv Satav when the change in the party leadership became apparent. “Incumbent chief Balasaheb Thorat’s group backed Satav. Former state unit chief Ashok Chavan’s camp supported Wadettiwar. Patole so far does not have a camp. He is not seen to be close to any of the established leaders in the state Congress--Thorat, Chavan or former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan,” said the leader, who did not want to be named.

Thorat holds three key posts and wanted to be divested of his responsibility as the state chief.

A second Congress leader said Patole will have a tough job as he will have to deal with top leaders like Ashok Chavan, Thorat, and Prithviraj Chavan. “...he has no strong support group in the state unit. His aggressive attitude may prove to be a hurdle in coordination with other parties in [the ruling] MVA [Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi] and also running the party unit,” the leader said, requesting anonymity. “There was friction between Patole and other leaders when he announced statewide rallies ahead of assembly polls in 2019. Patole did not get cooperation from other leaders who blamed his style of working.”

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.”