Nana Patole takes charge as Maharashtra Congress chief

Mumbai, Feb 12: After being appointed as the President of Maharashtra Congress Pradesh Committee (MPCC), Nana Patole took charge as the Maharashtra Congress party Chief on Friday. He formally accepted the post from outgoing state party chief Balasaheb Thorat.

 

 

 

After Nana Patole stepped down as Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker, he was appointed the President of Maharashtra Congress Pradesh Committee on February 5.

 

 

 

As earlier reported, the 57-year-old four-term MLA from Sakoli in Bhandara district replaces Balasaheb Thorat, who helmed state Congress for 18 months and is presently Maharashtra's revenue minister.

 

 

Patole is a four-time MLA who made his electoral debut in 1999 on a Congress ticket in the Maharashtra Assembly. He, however, then switched to the BJP in 2009. In 2014, fighting on a BJP ticket, he defeated former union minister Praful Patel in Gondia.

 

 

Again, in December 2017, he returned back to Congress after he had created a ruckus within BJP. In the 2019 Lok Sabha poll, he had unsuccessfully contested against Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. Subsequently, he went on to win from the Sakoli Assembly Constituency in the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections on a Congress ticket.

 

This development of 57-year-old Patole getting elected as President will definitely create some tensions among the three-allied party - Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). It will add some spice to the leadership of the Maharashtra Congress.