Who will be the new Maharashtra Congress chief?

Ahead of the Municipal Corporation elections, there is a tussle among the aspirants for the new face of Maharashtra Congress chief. Considered as the top contender for the same, Nana Patole, is now facing a major hurdle.

Recently, the party had selected Bhai Jagtap as the new face of Mumbai Congress president as it gears up to fight the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections 2022.

The lobbying for the post has intensified after state in-charge of the party, HK Patil, met Congress legislators and key leaders from Maharashtra in Mumbai recently, to gauge the mood among them for the change of guard in the state unit.

While Patole could be an ideal face and fits in the criterion finalised by the party for the post, the speaker cannot hold any political post, said a senior Congress leader.

Party high command is expected to hand-pick a non-Maratha from Vidarbha as it wants to send out a message to the electorate. However, none of the ruling parties would want re-election to the post of speaker. The Opposition BJP would like to grab the opportunity to let ruling alliance down, said a party leader.

Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and even some Congress leaders have reportedly conveyed this to the Congress leadership. NCP leadership also has reservations over Patole because of the strained relations between him and senior NCP leader Praful Patel. In this background, senior leaders Rajiv Satav and Vijay Wadettiwar are now emerging as two strong contenders for the post.

Meanwhile, another Congress minister pointed out that there is resistance from the NCP to make Patole state unit chief. On the other hand, Ashok Chavan camp has been reportedly convincing the party high command that the state unit needs an aggressive face like Wadettiwar to face other two ruling parties and Opposition BJP is pitching for Satav to be his successor. Former chief minister Chavan also met leaders in Delhi and reportedly batted for state relief and rehabilitation minister Vijay Wadettiwar, who is also one of the top contenders for the post.