‘After my reply, I will be taken back in Congress:’ Ashish Deshmukh

He said that his position has always been in favour of the party. “I had said that if Rahul Gandhi’s statement has caused unintended damage to OBCs then there is nothing wrong in apologising, just like he did in Rafale or the ‘chaukidar chor hai case’,” he said, adding that it will benefit the party.

A former BJP MLA-turned-Congress leader, Deshmukh said that he had a doubt on Patole since the day he resigned from the Speaker’s post. “He was responsible for the collapse of the MVA government. The Congress should serve showcause notice to Patole himself and appoint an inquiry committee,” said Deshmukh, adding that he will be replying to the party’s notice.

Deshmukh had said, “Our state president was absent from the MVA rally at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar despite being healthy. When I checked, I got to know that he was on his way to Surat. It seems he gets one khoka (money) per month from the state’s chief (minister). That is the reason why he (Patole) never talks against him (Shinde) but targets only the BJP and Fadnavis.”

Deshmukh in the past had made statements against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as well. He had said that Gandhi should apologise to the OBCs after the Surat court’s verdict awarding two years of imprisonment to him. In January 2023, Deshmukh had written to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge seeking removal of Patole blaming him responsible for the party’s dwindling fortunes in the state.