Nana Patole appointed president of Maharashtra state committee of Congress, replacing Balasaheb Thorat. He resigned as the Maharashtra assembly Speaker on Thursday after meeting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi ahead of his expected appointment in a day or two.
INC COMMUNIQUE
Important Notification regarding appointment of Maharashtra PCC President, Working Presidents, Parliamentary Board of Maharashtra PCC and Strategy Screening and Coordination Committee pic.twitter.com/bkQSendfgL
— INC Sandesh (@INCSandesh) February 5, 2021
Nana Patole, 56, the four-time legislator from Bhandara is seen as an aggressive leader from the Vidarbha region, an erstwhile stronghold where the party now faces strong competition from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Patole returned to the Congress in 2017, three years after he defected to the BJP. He defeated NCP’s Praful Patel from Bhandara-Gondia constituency in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections on a BJP ticket.
Patole hit the headlines in 2017 when he criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi before quitting the BJP. Within days of his re-induction, Patole was appointed as the Congress’s farmers’ wing chief. He was elected as an assembly member for the fourth time in 2019 and became the Speaker.
Patole belongs to the Kunbi community, which falls under the Other Backward Class category. The community is counted among the Congress supporters in the Vidarbha region.
Patole has been vocal on the issues of farmers and is not seen to be allied to any group within the state Congress.
