Congress President Rahul Gandhi has appointed former Lok Sabha MP from Gondia-Bhandara constituency in Maharashtra Nana Patole as the vice president of the Congress party’s Maharashtra unit.
The announcement was made by the All India Congress Committee on Thursday evening.
Mr.Patole had left the BJP and resigned from his Lok Sabha seat just before the Gujarat Assembly elections last year citing the “failure” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to address farmers’ issues.
He had also accused the PM of using his OBC identity only for elections.
In 2014, Mr.Patole was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Gondia-Bhandara constituency. He had contested the polls on a BJP ticket, and had defeated the senior NCP leader Praful Patel by a large margin.
However, the OBC leader from Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region was allegedly insulted by the Prime Minister during a meeting at the former’s residence in New Delhi in 2016 after which he began making statements against the PM and the BJP.
Mr.Patole had also claimed that the PM did not like to take questions.
The appointment of Mr.Patole as the Maharashtra Congress vice president is likely to give a fresh boost to the Congress especially in the Vidarbha region.
Mr.Patole has already announced his plans to embark on a tour of Vidarbha.
However, there is no clarity if he will contest the by-election for the Gondia-Bhandara Lok Sabha seat.
Mr.Patole has announced that he would contest the by-election only if the CM contests and if the NCP fields Praful Patel.
