A day after being appointed as the president of the Maharashtra Congress Committee, Balasaheb Thorat on Sunday said the next Chief Minister of the State will be from the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) alliance.
“A number of people have quit the Congress to join other parties, but that will not affect us in the long term. The vacant posts will be filled by younger generation who will get the opportunity to show their mettle. The Congress has suffered blows in the past, but it survived and came back stronger. The old guards and the fresh faces will work together to ensure the Congress returns to power,” he told reporters at his home town Sangamner in Ahmednagar district.
Apart from Mr. Thorat, the party appointed five working presidents — Nitin Raut, Baswaraj M Patil, Vishwajeet Kadam, Yashomati Chandrakant Thakur, and Muzaffer Hussain.
Amid speculation that the first-time-ever-decision to appoint five working presidents was taken under threat of more leaders quitting the Congress, Mr. Thorat rubbished the possibility. “We are going to face the polls in the next two-three months. It is important to have a structure and a team in place. The party has balanced the responsibilities and designed a set-up to fight the polls as a team. Those who stood with the party in difficult times will get the bigger opportunities.”
Accepting that his appointment has been made at a difficult time for the party, nationally and in the State, Mr. Thorat said they will go to the public with a list of failures of the current government. “Be it farmers, unemployment, or the rising fuel prices, the situation is worsening. We will take all these issues to the people.”