Former Maharashtra Youth Congress president Satyajeet Tambe was suspended from the Congress for six years on Thursday after he filed his nomination from the Nashik graduate constituency as an independent despite the party choosing his father and sitting MLC Sudhir Tambe.
Sudhir is already under suspension for not filing the nomination.
The Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi, comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), the Congress and the NCP held a press conference to announce its candidates for the MLC elections. “Our official candidates are Shubhangi Patil in Nashik, Sudhakar Adbale in Nagpur, Dheeraj Lingade in Amravati, Vikram Kale in Aurangabad and Balaram Patil in Konkan. All three parties will work to ensure the victory of these candidates,” said state Congress chief Nana Patole, who was joined by Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve and NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad.
Asked about the actions of Tambe, Patole said that it was Tambe who, after filing the nomination, said he would be meeting (BJP leaders) Devendra Fadnavis and Chandrashekhar Bawankule. “An announcement about Tambe will be made later in the day,” he said.
Later in the day, the Congress’s state unit announced Tambe’s suspension for six years. Tambe was unavailable for comment.
According to sources, a section within the Congress was firm on suspending the rebel leader from the party. “Another section felt that suspending him would give him an opportunity to join the BJP and therefore the party should have waited till the election was over. Now he is a free bird who can jump anywhere without any responsibility,” said a senior party leader.
Earlier, NCP leader Awhad said that Shubhangi Patil was the Opposition alliance’s candidate in Nashik. Then his party had not announced its support to Patil, who had the backing of the Sena (UBT) and the Congress. The NCP leadership, including its chief Sharad Pawar, had said the Congress could have solved the Tambes matter through internal discussions.