New Delhi: The Congress Disciplinary Committee on instructions from party president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday suspended Maharashtra MLC Dr Sudhir Tambe and initiated a probe after he did not file a nomination for the ensuing MLC polls from the Nashik Division Graduates’ constituency. “With the approval of the Congress president, the Disciplinary Committee has decided to place Dr Sudhir Tambe, MLC, Maharashtra under suspension, pending inquiry against him,” the letter sent by Disciplinary Committee member Tariq Anwar said.
On January 12, Kharge had approved the candidature of Dr Tambe. However, instead of the official nominee, his son and party functionary Satyajeet Tambe filed the papers as an independent candidate. Satyajeet, a former leader of the Youth Congress, had been declared a rebel by the grand old party and he reportedly filed his papers as an independent candidate for the MLC polls with the help of the BJP.
Interestingly, Dr Tambe is related to Congress Legislative Party leader BB Thorat, who 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. According to party insiders, the Congress president is upset over the developments, which indicate groupism and show utter lack of regard for the high command’s directive.
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The filing of nomination by Dr Tambe's son as an independent candidate comes as a surprise in the Congress system, where decisions, including time-consuming deliberations, taken once are usually accepted by all members. Earlier, former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi was miffed over the cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha polls and had summoned the senior leaders to Delhi to seek an explanation. According to sources, seven 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. Congress Legislative Party leader Balasahab Thorat, who was then a minister in the MVA alliance government, was directly supervising the MLC polls.
The two leaders had been named by party chief Sonia Gandhi as nominees on June 8 based on feedback from veteran Mallikarjun Kharge, who had met both Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and NCP chief Sharad Pawar in Mumbai. Later, Sonia urged 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 the party insiders.
The latest shocker comes at a time when the Congress is preparing to regain ground in Maharashtra following a successful leg of Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra. The party is also working hard to keep good relations with allies Shiv Sena and NCP as it works to strengthen the party in the western state.
