Maharashtra leader Balasaheb Thorat resigns as Cong legislature party chief

Maharashtra Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat on Tuesday resigned as the state legislature party head, a day after his letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge over friction with state unit chief Nana Patole came out, party sources said.

Patole, however, said he was not aware of any such move by Thorat and claimed that his predecessor doesn't speak with us, while the BJP said its doors are open if the Congress leader wishes to switch sides.

Thorat, who represents the Sangamner constituency in Ahmednagar district, has sent his resignation to the party high command, said the sources.

The Congress leader is the maternal uncle of Satyajit Tambe who recently won the Legislative Council election from the Nashik division graduates constituency as an independent candidate.

An aide of Thorat had earlier said that the Congress leader had written to the Congress central leadership citing his inability to work with Patole due to the latter's "anger" towards him. Thorat also said he was not being consulted before decisions were being taken, the aide added.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday here, Patole said, I have not received any resignation letter from Thorat. He has not been speaking to us for the past few days. Maybe he is talking to the media.

If I receive his letter, I will comment on it, said the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president.

The Bharatiya Janata Party also sought to cash in on the Congress infighting.

BJP state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule said, Our doors are open for leaders like Balasaheb Thorat. If he wishes, he can join the BJP. But he is not a small leader who will join BJP over someone's suggestions or instructions.

Bawankule said anyone joining the BJP will be "respected" and "honoured" and asserted his party is not making any offers to Thorat.

It is a fact that there is unrest among Congress' B and C level workers, he said.

Thorat has made a great contribution to the cooperative sector and if a person of his stature is disappointed, then the party needs to do some introspection, he said.

Thorat is a staunch Congress loyalist and has earlier served as the party's state president apart from holding many key ministerial portfolios.

The discord among state Congress leaders surfaced days after Thorat's brother-in-law and then Nashik graduates constituency MLC Sudhir Tambe declined to contest the Legislative Council election despite being the Congress' official candidate. His son Satyajit Tambe then fought as an independent and won the election, the results of which were announced on February 2.

While the Congress was left red-faced due to the episode, the silence of Thorat, who is recuperating from a shoulder injury, was seen as silent support to the Tambe father-son duo, sources said.