Thakre stays as state Cong president

Putting to rest all rumours regarding a change of guard in the Maharashtra state unit, the Congress high command has said that Manikrao Thakre, 57, will continue as chief of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC), for another term.

Putting to rest all rumours regarding a change of guard in the Maharashtra state unit, the Congress high command has said that Manikrao Thakre, 57, will continue as chief of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC), for another term.

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On Friday, Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said in New Delhi that party president Sonia Gandhi had approved of Thakre’s extension.

This move reaffirmed that the party did not want to change the chief, ahead of local self-government elections in the state. Around 27 zilla parishads and 10 municipal corporations will go on polls in the next 10 months.

Thakre, a Marathi-Kunbi, is expected to galvanize support from his community, which dominates state politics. In fact, he has been making studied efforts to connect with office bearers at all levels, through extensive programmes.

Last year, Thakre faced the party’s ire when he said — a day before Sonia Gandhi’s massive rally in Sewagram — that the then CM Ashok Chavan did not give money for organisational work. The party however, later forgave the incident.