Even as it tasted victory in the recently held Municipal Council polls, there is dissonance within the Maharashtra unit of the Congress, with a faction in the party, led by Maharashtra legislative party leader Balasaheb Thorat, squaring off against state unit president Nana Patole. According to sources, Thorat has written a letter to the party high command, listing out how he was 'humiliated' by Patole. Thorat’s letter mentioned statements made against his family members in public and how the entire episode of former party leader Satyajeet Tambe – his nephew – contesting as an Independent in the Legislative Council elections was aggravated further instead of being resolved. Thorat reportedly also mentioned that he has been 'targeted' in party meetings. When asked for comment, Patole denied that any such letter has been sent to the high command. “Show me the letter and only then I can comment. We are concerned about larger issues affecting the people of this country. I do not think Balasaheb and we have any differences,” said Patole. According to sources, Thorat wrote the letter on February 3. Three days ago, former Congress leader and now independent MLC Satyajeet Tambe had slammed Patole – without naming him directly – for hatching a 'conspiracy' to throw him out of the party and defame his uncle, Thorat. On Sunday, Thorat brought up the issue in an online address from Mumbai, where he is recovering from a shoulder injury. “Satyajeet won and we congratulate him for that. The politics played during that has hurt me. I have conveyed my sentiments to the high command. I don't want to comment in public about internal politics. We will surely take care of it,” Thorat had said. Despite Patole’s clarifications, demands for discussion on this issue have grown in the party. Former minister and Congress MLA Vijay Vadettiwar, while speaking to the media, said the issue should be discussed internally. Of the six senior Congress leaders with whom The Indian Express spoke to on Monday, four alleged that the 'autocratic' functioning style of Patole was the reason behind growing unrest in the state unit. “He (Patole) must understand that the state president should consult and take everyone into confidence before announcing decisions,” said a leader and former state minister. Another leader from Vidarbha cited the example of the recent Nagpur Municipal Council polls, where others joined hands and forced Patole to declare the candidature of Sudhakar Adbale, who eventually won the election. Maharashtra in-charge from the All India Congress Committee, H K Patil, is also likely to face the heat as a number of senior leaders, while speaking to The Indian Express, raised questions on why he did he not tackle the matter well in time. Another former minister raised questions on the manner in which the Tambe incident was handled. “Attacking him, suspending him or giving him wrong AB forms resulted in further steps towards throwing him out of the party, while the approach should have been to stop him from doing anything against party’s interests,” said the leader. Last month, The Indian Express had reported the absence of senior party leaders from the extended state executive meeting called by Patole in Nagpur. “We were not even asked about our availability. You cannot organise such important programmes on your whims,” said a leader who had skipped the meeting.
