From resigning as BJP MP in 2017 to abruptly stepping down as Maharashtra Assembly Speaker four years later, state Congress president Nana Patole is not a stranger to controversy. This time, he finds himself at the centre of yet another row due to his public spat with ally Shiv Sena (UBT) of Uddhav Thackeray over seat-sharing negotiations for the coming elections. Unlike his predecessors, Patole is known to speak his mind while attacking political opponents and expressing dissatisfaction with allies. Last week, Patole and Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut were involved in a war of words over seat-sharing. While Raut called the state Congress leadership “incapable” of taking decisions, Patole shot back and asked if the MP would take the decisions without consulting Thackeray, his party chief. Even as he has faced flak for his outspokenness, impulsive decision-making, and reluctance to adhere to protocols, Patole has escaped unscathed after leading the Congress to electoral success since taking over as state chief in February 2021. The 59-year-old Sakoli MLA and the Congress’s OBC face is now reportedly the party’s choice to be Chief Minister if the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) returns to power, given the support he enjoys from the Congress high command despite not having many friends in political circles as well as within the state unit. Patole was preferred as the chief of the Maharashtra Congress to inject vigour into the state leadership, which was unable to keep up with the aggressive allies such as the undivided Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Shiv Sena. His clean image — he is not facing any investigation by central agencies — also seemed to work in his favour. While an ex-CM of the Congress said Patole was picked as a compromise candidate between two warring factions of the party, a former executive member of the state unit claimed his aggressive attacks on the BJP and popularity with party workers earned him goodwill. A four-time MLA, Patole made his electoral debut in 1990 when he won the Zilla Parishad polls. His big break came in 1999 after he was first elected as the Lakhandur MLA in 1999 as the Congress’s candidate. He crossed over to the BJP in 2009 and successfully contested the 2014 Lok Sabha polls against former Union Minister Praful Patel on the latter’s home turf of Bhandara-Gondia. Patole was forced to return to the Congress in December 2017 after he spoke out against the “anti-farmer” policies of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi following which he unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls against Union Minister Nitin Gadkari from Nagpur. He later won the Assembly polls from Sakoli in Bhandara district. His stint as Speaker was also eventful. As Speaker, he took up a suo motu breach of privilege motion against then Chief Secretary Ajoy Mehta in 2020 for allegedly not responding to a communication from the legislature. Days before he resigned as Speaker the following year, Patole urged MLAs to formulate a law to give voters the option of choosing between Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and ballot papers in local body and Assembly polls and also tabled a suo motu resolution on caste census. Patole came under fire ahead of the Lok Sabha elections this year for failing to negotiate the Sangli seat with ally Shiv Sena (UBT). Even though the Congress emerged as the single largest party, winning 13 of the state’s 48 parliamentary seats, Patole found himself restricted to his turf of Bhandara-Gondia and days after the results was also reprimanded by AICC in-charge Ramesh Chennithala for referring to the party as “big brother” in the MVA. As the deadlock between MVA partners continues over seat-sharing, Patole has found himself at the receiving end yet again as he refuses to let go of the Congress’s “winning seats”. “He is working for the party and will try to protect the Congress’s interests. He will get credit if Congress wins but will be blamed if it loses. Either way, he will have to be in the line of fire for the next few weeks,” the former CM said.
