Days after the instructions from the party's high command, the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee on Thursday suspended former state youth wing chief Satyajeet Tambe for six years from the party for staging a rebellion and filing nomination as an independent in the Nashik Graduates Constituency biennial legislative council election slated for January 30. This was announced by the state party chief Nana Patole.
The AICC has already suspended his father and party’s three term legislator Sudhir Tambe for not filing his nomination despite announcing his candidature in the same constituency. The Congress faced a major embarrassment following Sudhir Tambe’s last-minute withdrawal from the election. In the seat-sharing arrangement among the Maha Vikas Aghadi partners, the Congress party had bagged it.
‘’Now we don't want to comment on what happened to the Tambe family. We have suspended them from the party. Thorat Saheb (Balasaheb Thorat who is Sudhir Tambe’s brother-in-law and uncle of Satyajeet Tambe) is our leader (Thorat is the Congress Legislature Party leader in Maharashtra). He is currently in the hospital. We will discuss it with him later. We will see what his role is. But for now, Satyajeet Tambe has been suspended from the party,’’ said Patole.
Patole said that the state Congress party has nothing to do with the father and the son as they stand suspended from the party. He declared that after the meeting of the MVA partners today the Congress party has decided to support an independent Ms Shubhangi Patil who has already received support from the Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray. Incidentally, BJP has not fielded its nominee in the Nashik Graduates Constituency and it may support Tambe to checkmate the Maha Vikas Aghadi.
Meanwhile, the MVA today announced candidates for the five seats where the polling is slated for January 30. They included Nashik Graduate Constituency - Ms Shubhangi Patil, Amravati Graduate Constituency - Ms Dhiraj Lingade, Nagpur Teachers Constituency- Sudhakar Adbale, Konkan Teachers Constituency- Balaram Patil and Aurangabad Teachers Constituency - Vikram Kale. All five candidates of the MVA will win, Patole said.
The term of five members of the Legislative Council two from graduates' and three from teachers' constituencies -- is expiring on February 7. Voting to elect new members of the Upper House will be held on January 30 and counting will be taken up on February 2.
