Mumbai, Feb 5: Maharashtra Legislative Assembly speaker Nana Patole on Thursday submitted his resignation to deputy speaker Narhari Zirwal. This move comes after Patole's meeting with the central leadership on Wednesday. He is tipped to be the next chief of the Congress state unit.
"The high command of the party asked me to resign from the post. I obeyed them," Patole said after he handed over the resignation to deputy speaker Narahari Zirwal. Zirwal on Thursday evening took to Twitter and posted a picture of him accepting Patole's resignation.
Patole likely to be the next chief of Maharashtra state Congress
The 57-year-old, who was elected to the state assembly in 2019, is likely to be the next chief of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) replacing Balasaheb Thorat, who is also the Revenue Minister in Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's Cabinet.
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The development comes ahead of the Budget Session in Maharashtra, which is slated to begin from March 1. Thorat and a group of party leaders had recently met Congress leadership in New Delhi. Patole had resigned from the BJP in December 2017 and joined the Congress party.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), an unnatural alliance between the Shiv Sena, Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was stitched. According to the agreement arrived upon in 2019, the Assembly Speaker's position was slated to be given to the Congress party.
However, it is not known who will be the next Speaker.