New Delhi: Miffed over infighting in the Maharashtra unit Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday deployed veteran Kerala leader Ramesh Chennithala as his special envoy to look into the issues in the western state and submit a report immediately.
“Congress president has deputed Ramesh Chennithala to assess the latest political situation in Maharashtra and report to him with immediate effect,” a statement from AICC in charge of Organization KC Venugopal said.
According to party insiders, Kharge had been upset over serious differences that had surfaced recently between Maharashtra unit chief Nana Patole and CLP leader Balasahab Thorat over the MLC polls. On Jan 12, Kharge had named Dr Sudhir Tambe as the party nominee for the MLC polls from the Nashik Division Graduates’ Constituency.
However, Kharge was shocked when Dr Tambe’s son Satyajeet Tambe filed the papers as an independent candidate instead of the official candidate. The AICC managers saw this as an indicator of serious problems within the state team. On January 15, the Congress Disciplinary Committee suspended Dr Sudhir Tambe and initiated a probe after he did not file a nomination for the MLC poll.
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Satyajeet, a former Youth Congress leader was declared a rebel by the grand old party as he allegedly took the help of the BJP. In a shocker to AICC managers, Satyajeet Tambe won the crucial polls which was seen by many as a loss of face for the state leadership.
Interestingly, Dr Tambe is related to BB Thorat, who was later slammed by PCC chief Nana Patole for allegedly playing into the hands of the BJP. Thorat resigned in protest on February 7, expressing his inability to work with Patole. Several attempts by the AICC leaders failed to convince Thorat, a veteran state leader.
Earlier, Thorat had faced questions from the AICC over cross-voting by some party MLAs during the Rajya Sabha elections in June and also the MLC polls. Former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi had also been miffed over the developments and summoned senior state leaders to Delhi to seek an explanation.
As per sources, around 7 out of the 44 Congress MLAs in the state assembly cross-voted, leading to the defeat of party nominee Chandrakant Handore, state working president. The other Congress nominee, Mumbai unit chief Bhai Jagtap, however won.
Balasahab Thorat, then a minister in the MVA alliance government, was directly supervising the MLC polls. Later, Sonia Gandhi dispatched senior leader Mohan Prakash to probe the issue and submit a report. The report was submitted but no follow-up action was taken in the matter, said party insiders.
The series of setbacks have come at a time when the Congress is preparing to regain ground in Maharashtra following a successful leg of Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra. Soon after the MVA candidate won the recent Andheri East assembly bypoll, former state minister Aditya Thackeray of Sena and NCP Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule attended Rahul Gandhi’s yatra to express solidarity with the grand old party.
In July last year, Congress decided to contest the BMC polls alone following power tussle within the Shiv Sena and an uncertain future of the Maha Vikas Aghadi. The MVA, which was formed in 2019, was ousted from government when Sena rebel Eknath Shinde joined hands with the BJP to form a government in June last year.
Nana Patole, a former NCP leader, had been provoking the allies by saying the grand old party would contest the BMC polls alone. The Congress state leaders had also been upset over the reorganisation of the BMC wards during the previous MVA government and had protested the issue.
On December 28, 2022, the foundation day of the Congress, Kharge addressed a rally in Mumbai where he urged the workers to strengthen the party in the western state. When asked, former state unit chief and ex-chief minister Ashok Chavan played down infighting in the Maharashtra unit saying there were small issues which would be resolved through dialogue.
“The Maharashtra Congress is united. There is no major issue as infighting. Yes, there are certain smaller issues between the leaders which will be resolved through dialogue,” Chavan told this channel. According to the former state unit chief, the issue of Satyajeet Tambe getting elected as an independent was a concern but said he would not like to say much on it as the issue was being probed by AICC in charge HK Patil.
The former chief minister batted for MVA in the state saying that would be the ideal situation but also noted that it would require a lot of understanding from the coalition partners also. “If there is proper coordination, an alliance would be ideal and can possibly work out in the next Lok Sabha polls as well,” he said.
In the same breath, Ashok Chavan said the entire state team would work to realise HK Patil’s goal of strengthening the Congress in Maharashtra, where it once ruled.
