The Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee has expelled former Nagpur MLA Ashish Deshmukh for anti-party activities, a statement from the disciplinary committee of the state party unit said here on Wednesday.
Disciplinary committee expels him for 6 years
Deshmukh was vocal against state party president Nana Patole and party leader Rahul Gandhi. He was served with a show-cause notice on March 5, 2023. Deshmukh replied to the notice on April 6, 2023. However, the disciplinary committee, under the stewardship of former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, did not find the reply satisfactory and expelled Deshmukh for six years.
“Your reply to the committee regarding your anti-party activities and public statements is not satisfactory and hence the guiding principles and clauses regarding discipline in the party constitution are applicable here. Accordingly, the party has reached the decision to expel you from the primary membership for six years,” the party said in its letter to Deshmukh. The party was expected to expel Deshmukh. However, it is not clear what his next political move will be.
Calls for a "separate Vidarbha"
Deshmukh was in the headlines recently after he met state BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule at the latter’s office in Nagpur and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Deshmukh said he met the BJP leaders with regard to public works in his former constituency.
Deshmukh has called for a “separate Vidarbha” several times. While the BJP also advocated for a separate Vidarbha while it was not in power, the party changed its stand going into the 2019 election. The party may be thinking of making a course correction by inducting Deshmukh, political analysts have said.
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