Cong suspends former MLA Ashish Deshmukh

On Wednesday, the committee said it did not find Des-hmukh’s reply satisfactory and hence  suspended him.

In the past, Des-hmukh has made statements against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. He said that Rahul should apologise to other backward communities after a court in Surat awarded him two years’      imprisonment in a 2019 defamation case.

In January this year, Deshmukh wrote to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge seeking Patole’s removal and blaming him for the party’s dwindling fortunes in the state.

A former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA-turned -Congress leader, Deshmukh had said that he had doubts on Patole since the day he resigned from the Speaker’s post.

“He was responsible for the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. The Congress should        serve a showcause notice to Patole and appoint an inquiry committee,” Deshmukh had said.