MUMBAI: Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole met Congress Lok Sabha MP and leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi in Delhi on Monday, sparking speculations of a major overhaul in the Maharashtra Congress unit.
It was likely on the note of giving opportunities to young and new faces in key positions.
Maharashtra Congress party president Nana Patole and Rahul Gandhi in discussed the major changes in the Congress party in Maharashtra.
Mr Nana Patole owning the defeat of his party in the state assembly election has submitted his resignation from the party's top post and asked the party leadership to take 'any' decision that will be accepted to.
The meeting with Rahul Gandhi has been seen as the last parting meeting of Mr Patole and handing over the baton to new leadership.
Sources in the Congress said a few new and young faces are discussed for the party president post. Congress MLA and former minister Amit Deshmukh (son of former Maharashtra chief minister late Vilasrao Deshmukh) former minister and MLC Satej Patil, former minister Nitin Raut and a few more surprising names can also emerge at eleventh hour.
“Satej Patil is also tipped for the leader of opposition in Maharashtra state legislative council while former minister and Congress MLA Vijay Wadettiwar could be appointed as Congress legislative party leader at state assembly. The party leadership is having a meeting with the state Congress leaders and soon the decision over it will be taken,” said senior Congress leader who requested anonymity.
He further added the party leadership before coming to final decision is considering caste calculations.
“There is the possibility that the OBC Nana Patole is likely to be replaced with a strong Maratha face. The reason is that the Maratha, Dalit, Muslim and tribal are the main vote base of the party in Maharashtra. All four communities decisively voted in favour of the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections, which resulted in the Congress winning 13 seats against one seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. "
"However in state polls, the majority chunk of this core voter base of Congress got divided and shifted to BJP while OBC in block voted BJP, therefore the Congress party lost the state polls badly. The Congress leadership is once again working on social engineering and caste combinations ahead of the local body elections,” said a senior Congress leader who requested anonymity.