Maharashtra MLC poll: Congress refuses to back independent Satyajeet Tambe’s nomination

A day after its candidate for the Nashik graduates’ constituency election, Dr. Sudhir Tambe, withdrew his nomination at the eleventh hour to make way for his son Satyajeet Tambe, Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on Friday categorically said the party would not support Mr. Satyajeet’s candidature, while accusing both father and son of “deceiving the party.”

“The Congress will not support a rebel candidate. We had given the candidature to Dr. Tambe. But by not filing his form, he has deceived the party… We have submitted a full report of this to the party high command, and they will now decide on what further action is to be taken against the Tambes,” said Mr. Patole.

The State Congress unit, already bedevilled by raging factionalism, had suffered a major embarrassment on Thursday when Dr. Tambe withdrew his nomination in defiance of the party high command just before the 3 p.m. deadline. His son, Mr. Satyajeet – a former Maharashtra Youth Congress president – had announced his candidature as an independent for the upcoming Nashik graduates constituency election, as part of the Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC) election.

Mr. Satyajeet has stressed that though he was contesting as an independent, he should be considered as the candidate of the Congress and the Opposition ‘Maha Vikas Aghadi’ (MVA). He explained he had to file nomination papers as an independent as the ‘AB’ form could not reach him owing to “a technical reason.”

The Nashik seat had been allotted to the Congress as per mutual agreement within the MVA partners (the NCP, the Congress and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction).

Mr. Satyajeet, the nephew of senior Congressman and former Maharashtra Minister Balasaheb Thorat, said he was going to approach every party to support his candidature, including the BJP.

His statement raised eyebrows while hinting at a major division not just within the Congress but between the Tambes and Mr. Thorat as well, while giving credence to speculation of Mr. Satyajeet’s intent to join the BJP and the latter party’s efforts to woo him.

Stating that Dr. Sudhir’s withdrawal and Mr. Satyajeet’s announcement in his lieu was “a well-planned affair”, Mr. Patole hinted at the BJP’s hand behind the move given that the saffron party had not fielded any candidate.

“The way the BJP has ensured that its own candidates do not file papers and only our rebel candidate files his papers proves that everything was planned. Today, the BJP is deriving pleasure by causing rift within other parties, but one day it will get its comeuppance when its home will be similarly broken,” warned the State Congress chief.

Commenting on the issue, former Chief Minister and senior Congressman Ashok Chavan said that the matter was certainly “serious” and had caused damage to the party.

There had been speculation about Mr. Satyajeet’s increasing affinity for the BJP ever since Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis had attended Mr. Satyajeet’s book launch in December last year. Mr. Satyajeet had translated Gavin Newsom and Lisa Dickey’s book Citizenville into Marathi, and the launch had been a well-attended event.

When Mr. Fadnavis was questioned on whether the BJP had anything to do with Mr. Satyajeet’s announcement as an independent candidate, he said: “We [the BJP] have not conjured up any equation… there is nothing unusual in attending each other’s social programmes, despite being in different parties.”

Giving an ambivalent response as to Mr. Satyajeet’s ‘induction’ into the BJP in the future, Mr. Fadnavis, speaking in Pune, said: “Satyajeet Tambe’s work has certainly been very good as a youth leader… But political decisions have to be taken at an appropriate time and we will take such a decision at a proper time.”

He refuted suggestions of the BJP deliberately not fielding a candidate from the Nashik graduates’ constituency in order to let Mr. Satyajeet file his nominations.

The term of five MLC members, including two from graduates’ and three from teachers’ constituencies, ends on February 7 and elections for these seats are scheduled for January 30.