The Maharashtra Congress leadership on Tuesday denied that senior party leader Balasaheb Thorat, who was upset with state party president Nana Patole, has resigned from his legislative party post. “I don’t think he has resigned….I have not received any resignation letter from him,” Patole told reporters in Mumbai.
Congress leaders close to Thorat said he has sent his resignation to party president Mallikarjun Kharge. “Despite Thorat raising the issue of how he was targeted by Patole, the party leadership has kept quiet. Thorat had clearly said in his letter that it was impossible to work with Patole. Yet, there has been no response from the party leadership. This left Thorat with no other choice than to quit his post,” the Thorat associate said.
“I have heard about Thorat’s resignation on television channels and social media. Our party chief has also denied that Thorat has resigned. He is a senior party leader and the party will sort out the issue soon,” state Congress spokesperson Gopal Tiwari said.
Thorat and Patole had a fallout over the recently held MLC elections. MLC Satyajeet Tambe, who is Thorat’s nephew, has alleged that the state party leadership deliberately gave him the wrong form in a bid to foil his attempts at becoming party nominee for MLC elections. He had alleged that there was a conspiracy against the Tambe family and an attempt to defame Thorat.
“Thorat has been hurt by the politics that was played out over the MLC elections…He was not even consulted or taken into confidence,” said Sudhir Tambe, Satyajeet’s father. The Congress had nominated Sudhir but he did not contest.
On Sunday, Thorat, at a function in Sangamner, congratulated Tambe and spoke about the pain he suffered due to the politics over MLC elections. “I am pained by the politics over the MLC election…I have conveyed my feelings to the party leadership rather than discussing the intra-party wrangling in public…,” Thorat had said.