Congress to elect leader in Maharashtra House on Nov 6

A large number of legislators are opposed to former CM Prithviraj Chavan's election as the leader of the legislature party

After its crushing defeat in the just-concluded election to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, the Congress, which won 42 seats, will meet on Thursday to elect its legislature party leader and deputy leader. Notably, this time, there is no lobbying from various factions within the party, yet to recover from a humiliating defeat.

Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee President Manikrao Thakre, who resigned after the party’s rout in the state, told Business Standard: “The meeting is slated for November 6 to elect legislature party leader, group leader and deputy leader in the state Assembly. Senior party leader Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress General Secretary Mohan Prakash will attend the meeting to be held at the Vidhan Bhavan.”

According to insiders, the old guards, including former ministers Patangrao Kadam, Balasaheb Thorat and Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, might not be considered. They said a young and dynamic legislator could be considered to lead the party in the Assembly. Thakre declined to divulge the names of those who have been shortlisted.

The Congress might not even get the post of leader of the opposition if the Shiv Sena finally decides not to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government. In that scenario, the Shiv Sena, with 63 legislators, will be fully entitled for the post of leader of the opposition in the 288-member Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.

A large number of legislators are opposed to former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan's election as leader of the legislature party. Chavan's  big rival, Narayan Rane, is out of the race after his defeat in the poll.

Sunil Kedar, legislator from Saoner near Nagpur in the Vidarbha region, had led a scathing attack against Chavan, holding him responsible for the rout. Further, Thakre in his report to the central leadership is believed to have put the onus on Chavan for the defeat, saying the latter was stuck in his constituency and failed to motivate the cadres. Chavan is still in the fray with the tacit support from Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Vice-President Rahul Gandhi.