Nana Patole appointed as Maharashtra Congress chief after resigning as Assembly Speaker

New Delhi: The Congress on Friday appointed Nana Patole as the party’s Maharashtra state committee president, replacing Balasaheb Thorat. Patole, the MLA from Sakoli in Bhandara district, had resigned as Speaker of Maharashtra Assembly on Thursday. “The Congress president has appointed Nana Patole as the new president of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee,” according to a party statement. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi also appointed six working presidents — Shivaji Rao Moge, Basavaraj Patil, Mohamed Arif Naseem Khan, Kunal Rohidas Patil, Chandrakanth Handore and Pranati Shushilkumar Shinde — to work in coordination with Patole. Ten vice presidents of the state unit, including former Rajya Sabha member Hussain Dalwai, were also appointed. The party also set up a Parliamentary Board in the state with 37 members, a Strategy, Screening and Coordination Committee for the upcoming local bodies elections. The Congress shares power with the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra. A delegation of Congress ministers, headed by Thorat, had recently met the party leadership in Delhi. The Budget Session of the state legislature is scheduled to begin from 1 March.