Congress president emissary starts hard talk with party MLAs; major rejig in state Congress likely 

Against the backdrop of the rift in Maharashtra Congress, Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala on Monday had one-to-one meetings with Congress MLAs and party office bearers.

The conflict between Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole and Congress Legislative Party leader Balasaheb Thorat surfaced over the MLC elections nominations. Thorat indirectly blaming Nana Patole wrote to party leadership expressing his desire to step down as CLP and alleged that the conspiracy was made against him to malign his image and create suspicion about his loyalty towards the Congress.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge appointed Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala and asked him to assess the situation in the Maharashtra Congress and submit a report. Mr Chennithala arrived in Mumbai on Monday and started a one-to-one meeting with his party MLAs and office bearers.

Sources said that Mr Chhennithala's report is very important because it will decide whether incumbent Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole should remain as party president or he will be replaced with someone from the state Congress.

“If the report is negative, then the new president of Maharashtra Congress will be appointed. Several names are doing the rounds for the new president that includes former Maharashtra Congress chief minister Ashok  Chavan, former minister and OBC face Vijay Wadettiwar, Yashomati Thakur, Nitin Raut, Satej Patil etc. However, the final decisions will be taken by the party president with the consultations with Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi,” said the senior Congress leader requesting anonymity.

He added that it will be interesting to see whether the Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge accepts the resignations of the Congress legislative party Balasaheb Thorat or only changes the state president.

"Senior Congress leader Ashok Chavan is interested in taking the reins of the party, but he is also asking to change the CLP. He wants someone close to him as CLP so that both can work hard to expand the party base and take on the opposition in the state assembly as well. If the CLP is not changed, then a different name may emerge as the party president," said another senior Congress leader requesting anonymity.