Manikrao Thakre resigns as dy chairman of council

MUMBAI: With eight days to go before his term as Member of Legislative Council (MLC) is set to expire on July 27 and not having been offered a ticket by his party, senior Congress member Manikrao Thakre submitted his resignation as deputy chairman of the Upper House. He had been was elected to the Upper House in 2012. He said he was following the orders of the party leadership as the Congress has decided to contest the election for the same post. “We are expecting to hold the election to the deputy chairman's post before the ongoing monsoon session ends on July 20. Had I not resigned today (Wednesday), the party would have had to wait until the next session,” said Thakre. Meanwhile, the Congress had renominated Sharad Ranpise and Mirza Wajahat Mirza Athar, who were both among those elected unopposed in the July 16 biennial elections to the 11 constituency seats. Another reason for Thakre putting in his papers days before his term in the Upper House ended, is the fact that after July 27, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will attain numerical majority. The BJP, with 21 members, will become the single largest party in the 78-member Upper House, followed by the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), both with 17 members each, Shiv Sena with 12 members, Independents 6, Lok Bharti 1, PWP-I 1, PRP 1, RSP 1 and Vacant 1.

-FPJ Political Bureau