Rahul confidant appointed state Congress chief

Harshwardhan Sapkal currently heads the Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Raj Sanghatan, an outfit affiliated with the Congress which works for the empowerment of local self-government bodies

Mumbai: The All India Congress Committee (AICC) on Thursday announced the appointment of former Buldhana MLA Harshwardhan Sapkal as the new state Congress president, replacing Nana Patole who resigned after party’s poor showing in the assembly elections in November last year. Vijay Wadettiwar, leader of opposition in the previous assembly, has been appointed leader of the party’s legislative unit in Maharashtra.

Harshwardhan Sapkal

The announcements were made by AICC general secretary KC Venugopal on Thursday, a day after Hindustan Times reported about the likelihood of Sapkal being appointed state Congress chief.

A farmer by profession, the 58-year-old Sakpal entered politics with the Sarvodaya movement led by Vinoba Bhave, a Gandhian leader. He has handled organisational work for the Congress in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh and was earlier secretary, AICC. He currently heads the Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Raj Sanghatan, an outfit affiliated with the Congress which works for the empowerment of local self-government bodies, and is considered close to the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi.

“The appointment of Sapkal as state chief indicates that the party leadership is keen on rebuilding the Congress in Maharashtra,” a senior Congress leader told Hindustan Times on condition of anonymity.

Speaking about the party’s history in Maharashtra, he said the Congress ruled the state on its own till 1995, when it was defeated by the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance. It returned to power in 1999, in alliance with the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party. The Congress-NCP coalition ruled the state will 2014, when the BJP, riding on the Modi wave, emerged as the state’s single largest party and formed the government in alliance with Shiv Sena. After the 2019 assembly polls, Congress returned to power by forming the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance with the NCP and the Shiv Sena, but the coalition was ousted from power in the middle of its term after splits in the NCP and Sena.

“We made a comeback during the Lok Sabha poll last year, winning 13 seats, but suffered a crushing defeat in the assembly polls, winning just 16 seats. Given this background, the party leadership now wants to take up the task of rebuilding the party and has handed the job to Sapkal who is not a known name in state politics, but has been active in party organisation,” said the leader.

Wadettiwar, who was leader of opposition in the assembly during the Eknath Shinde-led Mahayuti government’s tenure, will now head Congress’ legislative unit. The MLA of Bramhapuri in Chandrapur district is known for his aggressive oratory.

Significantly, both the key posts in the state Congress have gone to leaders from the Vidarbha region.

Outgoing state Congress president Nana Patole congratulated Sapkal and Wadettiwar on their appointments.

“Sapkal has long experience of working in the party organisation and he will succeed in his new venture,” Patole said.