Nana Patole
MUMBAI: A day after his meeting with Rahul Gandhi, Maharashtra assembly Speaker Nana Patole submitted his resignation to deputy speaker Narwari Zirwal on Thursday. The 57-year-old Patole is set to be soon appointed as the state Congress president in place of Balasaheb Thorat, who had offered to quit a month ago in keeping with the Congress party's policy of 'one man, one post'.
Patole's decision appears to have created a rift among the MVA partners on who will be the new speaker. While Thorat took the view that a Congress nominee will be the new speaker, the architect of the MVA, NCP president Sharad Pawar, said a discussion on the matter was essential. "We will discuss and then take a decision," Pawar said. Patole declined to comment on Pawar's suggestion, saying he was a senior leader of the alliance.