Congress appoints Balasaheb Thorat as party chief in Maharashtra, amidst no clarity on next party president after Rahul Gandhi's resignation

The Congress party on July 13 appointed BB Thorat as the president of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee. It also appointed K.C. Padvi as Congress Legislative Party Leader for Maharashtra. This came exactly a week after Congress chief in Maharashtra Milind Deora resigned from his post. A statement issued by his office on last Sunday said taking on the BJP-Shiv Sena and negating the impact of Vanchit Aghadi is a challenge for the Congress in Maharashtra. Deora expressed his desire to quit shortly after meeting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on June 26. 

Along with the president's appointment, Congress also appointed 5 working presidents, Pradesh Election Committee, Campaign Committee, Publicity and Publication Committee, Pradesh Strategy Committee, Manifesto Committee, Coordination Committee. While BB Thorat  has been appointed as the head of strategy committee, Prithviraj Chavan has been appointed as the chairman of manifesto committee, Sushil Kumar Shinde as chairman of coordination committee. and Nana Patole as the head of the campaign committee. Here are the communique released by the Congress party on various appointments. 

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After the resignation of Congress Leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil as leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly exactly a month ago, and his subsequent resignation from the party, Congress party had appointed Balasaheb Thorat as the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader of Maharashtra assembly.

Even as the appointment of various leaders in different committees of Maharashtra Pradesh Congres comes in midst of an internal tussle in the state Congress between Deora and former state party chief Sanjay Nirupam, the BJP attacked the party over its communique that said 'Honourable Congress President has appointed' even as Rahul Gandhi resigned from the post. 

With no one at the post of party president, BJP leader Amit Malviya called the presidnet as the ghost president. Taking a dig on the crisis in the party over president's post, he said that one should be scared because a ghost president has made various appointments. 

Rahul Gandhi's resignation

Rahul Gandhi resigned from his post as the Congress president on July 3. Taking to Twitter Gandhi put forward his resignation as the Congress chief 41 days after 2019 Lok Sabha loss. In the tweet, Rahul Gandhi released his resignation letter, saying that he takes responsibility for the loss of the Congress party in the 2019 elections. He reasoned his resignation, saying that "accountability is critical for the future growth of the party". 

READ: Resignation drama in Congress continues, BJP rebel Nana Patole latest to as Kisan Congress President