Patole: Cong’s man of the moment
MUMBAI: Even as senior Congress leaders resorted to damage control over his statements that irked allies Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Shiv Sena, state Congress chief Nana Patole continued with his remarks targeting friends and foes of his party.
“We have to be prepared so that we do not face betrayal like we had to in 2014,” Patole said on Wednesday, while justifying his announcement that the Congress will prepare to be on its own in next Assembly elections in 2024. His remarks, a jibe at alliance partner NCP, came in less than 24 hours after a group of Congress leaders comprising AICC in-charge of Maharashtra HK Patil and state ministers Ashok Chavan and Balasaheb Thorat met NCP chief Sharad Pawar to discuss various issues related to the three-party coalition in the state.
Patole, who was the first Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP to speak against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policies in 2017 and later quit the party to return to the Congress, has been kicking up controversies since he took up the responsibility of the party’s state unit five months ago. His statements have led to tension within the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on several occasions as allies NCP and Sena have reacted angrily.
Patole, who was appointed as the state unit chief of Congress in February this year, has been in the news ever since he took over. Immediately after taking over, he announced to not allow Amitabh
Bachchan and Akshay Kumar to release their films in Maharashtra for their “one-sided political stand”. He also alleged that his phone was put under surveillance by previous Fadnavis government. More recently, he irked Congress’s allies by announcing to go solo in all the forthcoming elections. His demand to probe allotment of a tender in mining and energy departments had stunned leaders from his own party as the bidding was directly related to a department held by his party colleague Nitin Raut.
His latest controversy is over his remarks that he was under surveillance by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and home minister Dilip Walse-patil. The remarks were dismissed by the NCP which said the state Congress chief misunderstood the routine function of state police’s intelligence branch that keeps tabs on all political activities in the state. In a meeting with party’s local leaders in Lonavala on Saturday, Patole also said that Sena and NCP backstabbed the Congress when it came to releasing funds for the local bodies under them.
This irked the other two ruling parties who reacted sharply. NCP chief Sharad Pawar ridiculed Patole by saying that the latter was “a minor leader whose comments do not warrant a response”.
Pawar’s reaction upset the senior party leaders even in Congress, as they feel that it could have a negative impact on smooth functioning of the three party-ruled MVA. It was one of the reasons why HK Patil-led delegation called on Pawar on Tuesday. Pawar reportedly asked the delegation if Congress was serious about going solo in the forthcoming elections.
Party insiders said HK Patil on Tuesday held a separate meeting with Patole and advised the latter to avoid any direct attack on Pawar or leaders of the MVA.
It, however, did not stop Patole from continuing his statements. On Wednesday, he said his party was firm on its decision as they do not want to be cheated like 2014.
Patole was referring to the 2014 assembly polls, when NCP pulled out of the alliance with Congress just ahead of the elections. Pawar’s party was irked with then chief minister Prithviraj Chavan who they suspected was trying to corner NCP leaders by raking up various scams and helping the BJP to target them. The Congress was caught unaware as the NCP withdrew support to the government. Both the parties lost the election.
NCP leader Shashikant Shinde reacted: “Every party has its own right to expand its base, but Patole should take care of a few facts, why talking.”
Patole, 58, comes from Bhandara area of Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. A three-term Congress MLA, he shifted to the BJP ahead of 2014 Lok Sabha elections. He defeated NCP’S Praful
Patel to get elected as MP from Bhandara-gondiya. He quit in December 2017 by openly criticising Modi for the ‘anti-farmer policies’ of the central government. He returned to Congress and was appointed as head of the party’s farmers’ wing, All India Kisan Congress. He returned to the Assembly in 2019 as a Congress legislator and was made speaker of the assembly, the post he held till he resigned in February this year. His task was cut out: Reviving the Congress which was pushed to the fourth position in 2014 and 2019 Assembly elections in the state.
Former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said Patole has his own style of working. “He has been doing his work of expanding the party base in Maharashtra and as a state unit chief he is following his brief. There could be misinterpretation of his statements. Sometimes his analysis could be based on misreading. Whatever Patole says is in the interest of the party with the sole intention of encouraging the party workers. Even in the past, most of the local body elections were fought separately by Congress and NCP, barring a few exceptions,” he said.
Former Maharashtra Congress chief Manikrao Thakre said that Patole has been able to charge up party cadre ever since he has taken the charge.
Shiv Sena’s mouthpiece Saamana too has slammed Patole for his controversial statements and said that it needs to be seen if they have helped them in energizing the party cadre. He said that if it has energised the party, the Sanjivani buti, the magical herb in mythology, needs to be given to the party at national level as it is in very bad shape in many states.
Meanwhile, Patole has announced a cycle rally to Raj Bhavan (Governor’s house) on Thursday to protest against Central government over rising fuel prices.
Political analyst Prakash Akolkar said, “Patole’s rhetoric may be the party’s strategy to occupy political space. I will say what Raut is doing for the Sena, Patole is doing for his party. Thackeray and even Pawar know the final decision over alliance and other critical issues will be taken by the party’s central leadership.”