Quit Pros Kyun from Congress? Maha Question for State Chief Nana Patole as Deora, Siddiqui, Chavan Exit

A day after resigning from the Congress, Ashok Chavan on Tuesday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of the party’s state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule and Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

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Chavan’s exit is a big blow for the Congress. Before Chavan, Milind Deora and Baba Siddique also left the grand old party and joined the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) and Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar), respectively. While Chavan refused to complain, the other leaders openly expressed their displeasure over the party leadership before leaving, raising questions over state president Nana Patole’s functioning.

In response, Patole said: “The leaders who left the Congress were given everything by the party. But now when the time has come to fight, they have shown their back and have joined the BJP and other parties. It is evident that those who have left had some fear of central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Some have gone for their personal benefit. It is a face-saver for such leaders who instead of fighting with the BJP and its allies prefer to surrender to them.”

SERIES OF ‘BLUNDERS’

From the day Nana Patole took charge as the Maharashtra Congress chief, he has been at the centre of criticism. Patole vacated the post of Speaker without informing then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. This move was considered a ‘blunder’ as it was one of the reasons for the debacle of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in the state.

Next was the exit of former Youth Congress president Satyajeet Tambe. He was expecting a ticket for the Nashik Graduate constituency, but the party gave the ticket to his father and senior Congress leader Dr Sudhir Tambe. Later, Satyajeet contested as an independent and faced disciplinary action for breaking the party order. In his recent post on ‘X’, he wrote, “Deeply Pains Me to See Shambolic State of Congress. The sorry state of the Congress party in Maharashtra is heartbreaking and disturbing. It is painful that the party that was instrumental in the Independence struggle and sacrificed tremendously to shape the country’s future is in a shambolic state. I am deeply disturbed to see the state of the party where I worked 22 for years of my life with all my mind, body, and soul. As the Maharashtra Youth Congress president, I toured the whole state and roped in many bright young leaders into Congress. There is a lot to say, but I would rather refrain.”

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During the last Rajya Sabha nomination in the state, the Congress filed the nomination of Imran Pratapgarhi, a young leader from Uttar Pradesh, who is said to be very close to Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi. Deora was also interested in contesting that Rajya Sabha election, but he was not considered at all on the grounds that he was given the 2019 Lok Sabha election ticket, his second general election, which he lost.

Siddique, who lost the 2014 election, was not given any big responsibility by the party. Being a Muslim leader, he was never made chief of the Mumbai Congress, despite his experience. In 2019, his son got a ticket from the Bandra East constituency. Although a Congress loyalist, Siddique was ignored, after which he decided to end the 48 years of relationship with the party. If sources are to be believed, other leaders from the Congress, too, are willing to join the BJP, but their admission to the party will happen before the Lok Sabha election.

Chavan, who was made the villain of the ‘Adarsh’ scam by the BJP, has now been accepted by the latter and may be offered a Rajya Sabha seat. Chavan said this move to join the BJP is not out of fear of the ‘Adarsh’ scam allegations, but because he wanted to check other political ways. He also told reporters that he was impressed with the working style of PM Modi.

Despite growing demand to remove Patole from the post, the high command is adamant on keeping him. A few months ago, senior Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat had written to the party’s high command and expressed his displeasure over Patole’s working style and had said that it was difficult to work with him.

It is clear that be it the state or central leadership, the Congress is hardly listening to the demands and request of local leaders and has also unable to convince disgruntled and sulking leaders to form a team which will give the BJP a tough fight.