Congress deputes top leader to 'assess' Maharashtra intra-party crisis

Mumbai: Indicating that all is not hunky-dory in the Maharashtra party unit, the Congress has deputed a senior leader, Ramesh Chennithala, to assess the on-ground situation and submit his report, here on Thursday.

The sudden development came a day after the state Congress President Nana Patole and Congress Legislature Party Leader Balasaheb Thorat emerged from the State Executive meeting, grinned and posed for photos, suggesting a patch-up of their recent public and private brawl.

Chennithala is expected to be in Mumbai for at least a couple of days, meet different leaders of the state party and prepare his report before the AICC 85th Plenary Session scheduled in Chhattisgarh between February 24-26.

"The Congress president has deputed Ramesh Chennithala to assess the latest political situation in Maharashtra and report to him, with immediate effect," a statement noted.

The development comes a day after the Congress state executive meeting held in Mumbai signalling that Thorat and Patole had buried the hatchet.

Earlier this month, Thorat had shot off a letter to the Congress high command and quit as the CLP Leader, but after discussions with Maharashtra in-charge H.K. Patil, his resignation was rejected last week.

The political upheavals rocked the state Congress ahead of the MLC elections in January, specifically linked with the Nashik Graduates Constituency, where the official party nominee, Dr. Sudhir Tambe, suddenly stepped down in favour of his son, Satyajeet Tambe.

As the party tried to grapple with the situation, Satyajeet Tambe -- a nephew of Thorat -- contested and won the seat as an Independent, trouncing Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) nominee Shubhangi Patil, creating fissures even among the 3-year-old three-party alliance which includes Nationalist Congress Party and Shiv Sena (UBT).