Congress leader says he cannot work with Maharashtra party chief Nana Patole

Bombay:

Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat has written a letter to the party’s central leadership indicating that he is unable to cooperate with Maharashtra unit head Nana Patole due to the latter’s “anger” towards him, an aide claimed of the first Monday.

Nana Patole told reporters in Pune that he did not think Balasaheb Thorat had written such a letter, adding that he could only comment if he knew the “contents of this letter”.

In his letter to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Balasaheb Thorat, a former state unit chief and minister, has also said that he is not consulted before decisions are made here, the aide added.

Thorat, in his letter to the congressional leadership, has expressed the inability to cooperate with State President Nana Patole, saying that if he (Patole) holds so much anger against him, it would be difficult to cooperate with him. Thorat has also complained that he is not consulted while decisions are being made,” the closest aide claimed.

Nana Patole told reporters, “I don’t know what letter Thorat saheb wrote. I can speak about it if the content is made available to me. I don’t think Thorat wrote such a letter.’ Nana Patole added that a meeting of the state executive committee will be held on February 13, where various issues will be discussed to find solutions.

The case comes days after Nashik graduate constituency MLC Sudhir Tambe, Balasaheb Thorat’s brother-in-law, refused to contest despite being the official candidate of the congress and getting his son Satyajit Tambe to fight as an independent. Satyajit Tambe won the poll, the results of which were announced on February 2.

While Congress was redfaced by the episode, the silence of Balasaheb Thorat, who is recovering from a shoulder injury, was seen as silent support for the Tambe father-son duo, sources said.

While Mr. Thorat did not participate in Satyajit Tambe’s campaign ahead of the January 30 elections, several relatives of the former were present. The Congress has suspended Sudhir Tambe and Satyajit Tambe from the party over the MLC poll controversy.

Balasaheb Thorat has also said that he was offended by the leadership of the (state) party and that statements have been made against his family on the (Tambe) issue, the aide said, citing the letter.

Some officials of Ahmednagar were punished for this matter, the letter to Kharge said.

Nana Patole had disbanded the Ahmednagar District Committee of the Congress on 26 January for “anti-party activities” as some of its members had reportedly campaigned for Satyajit Tambe instead of the candidate to whom the party had officially declared its support.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NewsMadura staff and is being published from a syndicated feed.)