Congress revamp: H K Patil cuts short Mumbai trip, rushes to Delhi

The AICC Maharashtra in charge, H K Patil, on Thursday abruptly curtailed his visit to Mumbai, rushing back to Delhi.

According to sources, Patil, who was scheduled to meet senior state leaders and some MLAs and MLCs on the third day of his trip, was instructed to cut short his visit by the party high command.

With the high command deciding to gauge the opinion of party MLAs and MLCs for a possible revamp of the state unit, Patil had flown to Mumbai on Tuesday evening and held discussions with senior leaders, ministers and MLAs.

Even on Thursday, meetings were scheduled till evening. But sources said that Patil cancelled them and flew back to Delhi.

Speculation is rife that Patil was recalled to Delhi after a section of AICC leaders expressed displeasure over the manner in which the exercise was being carried out.

With Rahul Gandhi likely to take charge of the Congress president’s post once again, sources said that the high command had plans to prop up a “young leader” from his camp to the state president’s post. But on Wednesday, several MLAs and MLCs had backed Congress president Balasaheb Thorat’s continuation as the state party chief.

Earlier in the week, Thorat, who also enjoys close proximity to the Gandhi family, had offered to step down from the state president’s post. He currently holds three positions – state Congress chief, party’s legislative head, and revenue minister.

MP Rajeev Satav, known to be a close confidant of Rahul Gandhi, is a top contender for the party president’s post. The other name doing the rounds is that of Assembly Speaker Nana Patole.