Mumbai: Senior leader Balasaheb Thorat was on Saturday appointed the president of the Maharashtra unit of Congress. The post had been lying vacant since the resignation of former chief minister Ashok Chavan.
After the heavy drubbing received in the recently concluded Lok Sabha election, the Congress decided to make major changes in leadership, sources within the party said. Accordingly, the high command handed over the party’s reins to Mr Thorat, a veteran Congressman.
Citing moral responsibility for the party’s defeat, Mr Chavan had resigned as the state president a few days back. In the Lok Sabha election, Congress only managed to win the Chandrapur seat — its worst ever performance in the state.
Along with the state unit chief, the party also decided to appoint five working presidents in the state. They are Nitin Patil, Yashomati Thakur, Vishwajeet Kadam, MuzaffAr Hussain and Baswaraj Patil.
These appointments were made taking into consideration the regional equations, said a party insider. While Mr Raut and Ms Thakur are from Vidarbha, Mr Kadam, Mr Hussain and Mr Patil are from Western Maharashtra, Konkan and Marathwada respectively.
Mr Thorat faces a huge challenge of reviving the Congress party, which is reeling under a series of defections after the Lok Sabha polls. More leaders are likely to quit the party ahead of the Vidhan Sabha election.
Mr Thorat is a bitter political rival of former Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, who was recently inducted into the Fadnavis Cabinet.
Mr Thorat was earlier the leader of Congress Legislative party in the state. Following his elevation as the state chief, K.C. Padvi has been appointed to that post.
