Maharashtra Congress fissures widen as CLP leader Balasaheb Thorat resigns

Maharashtra Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat on Tuesday regined as the party’s legislature party chief. Thorat’s resignation follows his letter to the party president, Mallikarjun Kharge, complaining about state Congress chief Nana Patole ‘conspiring’ against him.

Thorat's letter has also led to talks within the party about the Sangamner MLA joining the BJP.

In the letter, Thorat said it is impossible for him to work with Patole, who he claimed has been “conspiring and defaming” him. In his letter to Kharge, Thorat also alleged that Patole humiliated him on several instances, inluding during the suspension of his nephew Satyajeet Tambe recently won the Legislative Council election as an independent candidate.


ET had, on Monday, reported how several Congress leaders had complained about Patole’s ‘whimsical’ style of functioning to the party high command. The party leaders had sought removal of Patole as the state chief, claiming he had been deliberately sidelining veteran leaders.