Congress appoints former BJP MP Nana Patole as head of farmers’ unit

In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Nana Patole had defeated Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) heavyweight and former civil aviation minister Praful Patel from Bhandara-Gondiya seat in Maharashtra.

After years, the Congress on Friday revived its farmers’ cell and appointed former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Nana Patole as chairman of the Kisan Khet Mazdoor (farmers-farm labourers) department.

Nana Patole had resigned from the BJP and the Lok Sabha in December 2017 following differences with the party leadership. (PTI File Photo)

Patole had resigned from the BJP and the Lok Sabha in December 2017 following differences with the party leadership on the farmers’ issues, demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, he had defeated Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) heavyweight and former civil aviation minister Praful Patel from Bhandara-Gondiya seat in Maharashtra.

The party’s Kisan Khet Mazdoor cell had been defunct for several years now and its previous chairperson was former Haryana minister Shamsher Singh Surjewala, who is the father of Congress party’s head of the communications department Randeep Singh Surjewala.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi also cleared the appointment of nine new secretaries and the institution of a screening committee for Telangana.

Senior leader from Odisha Bhakt Charan Dass will be the chairperson of the screening committee, while Jothimani Sennimalai and Sharmistha Mukherjee have been made its members.

Gandhi also appointed Mehendra Singh Bodh as acting chairman of Scheduled Caste department of the party’s Madhya Pradesh unit.

Besides, Lalit Mehra was made chairman of the research department in Rajasthan, BS Shiju in Kerala, Ulhas Parab in Goa and Idris Gandhi in Chhattisgarh.