After Balasaheb Thorat outburst against Maharashtra Congress chief, Prithviraj Chavan calls for more consultations

It is perhaps the first time a senior Congress leader has vented his spleen about the “style of functioning” of the party’s state chief.

Congress leaders said the murmurs had persisted for long and they might become louder “as Patole is seen working in isolation rather than carrying the party together”. Senior leaders who have spent decades with the party are also miffed with him as they feel sidelined.

At a function organised in his honour on his birthday in Sangamner, Thorat talked about the election to the Legislative Council’s Nashik graduates constituency. Satyajeet Tambe, his father Dr Sudhir Tambe and the local Congress MLA were among those present at the function on Sunday evening.

“I am pained by the politics that happened over the Nashik seat…I have conveyed my feelings to the party high command,” Thorat said.

Congress leaders close to Thorat said he had written a letter to the high command about his alleged humiliation. “It is impossible to work with Patole,” he has allegedly written in the letter.

Last week Satyajeet Tambe, a former Youth Congress president, was elected from Nashik, where the Congress had wanted to field Dr Sudhir Tambe, the sitting MLC. Dr Sudhir did not file the nomination, but Satyajeet filed his papers as an independent candidate at the last minute.

Two days ago, Satyajeet alleged that his family was told to take a decision as to who should contest but was given the wrong AB form for filing the nomination. He alleged a conspiracy (by the state Congress unit) to defame his uncle Thorat.

Though Satyajeet’s ire was directed at Patole, he did not name the Congress state chief. “When the wrong form was sent to me, I called Patole. His phone was switched off…I still filed the nomination paper as Congress candidate but the party did not declare support to me,” he said.

Thorat, who had been undergoing treatment after a shoulder injury and had avoided speaking about the MLC poll controversy, revealed the wrangling within the party on Sunday.

“It is part of internal politics…They alleged that I was heading to the BJP. I am a Congress man and will always remain so…I don’t want to speak much about it…We will take an appropriate decision about it at the party level,” he said.

The murmurs about the Congress state leadership have persisted for long, said a party leader, who alleged that Patole took unilateral decisions, without even consulting senior leaders.

“Besides, instead of cementing ties with the NCP and the Shiv Sena, he is making statements every day against the alliance partners, sending out a wrong signal and creating unnecessary bitterness,” said a senior Congress leader.

The likes of former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and Ashok Chavan have apparently not been taken into confidence. Asked about what went wrong in Satyajeeet Tambe’s case, Ashok Chavan said, “I can’t comment about the state leadership of the party…It won’t look good,” he told a TV channel.

When contacted by The Indian Express, Prithviraj Chavan, said, “It is his (Patole) style of functioning. I can’t say anything about it…But I have had no problem with him. He does call me whenever he feels so…”

Chavan, however, said that when Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge was in charge of the party in Maharashtra, there was a committee of seniors. “The committee had former CMs, former ministers and the present and former presidents of the state unit. We used to meet every fortnight or monthly and discuss party issues. But currently, there is no such committee. There is pressing need for such a committee to avoid issues like those that arose in Tambe’s case,” he said.

Another senior leader said, “Patole has spoiled the Congress relations with the Shiv Sena and the NCP. He has been openly lashing out at the Pawars and the NCP when they are talking of unitedly taking on the BJP. Instead of taking on the BJP, Patole is currently taking on alliance partners like the NCP and the Uddhav Thackeray Sena.”

The leader further alleged that the Congress state chief was working more in isolation.

When contacted, state party spokesperson Atul Londhe said he was not aware of any letter written by Thorat to the high command. For his part, Patole has told reporters that he is not aware of any such letter.