Former Cong MLA Ashish Deshmukh suspended from party

In a significant development though on expected lines, senior Congress leader and former legislator Ashish Deshmukh has been suspended by the party for his statements against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) President Nana Patole.

Deshmukh and Patole, both of whom hail from Vidarbha region, had been at loggerheads for quite some time now.

Deshmukh (48) is the son of former Maharashtra Congress President Ranjeet Deshmukh. The latter had been a minister in the erstwhile Congress-NCP Democratic Front government.

Deshmukh is also the nephew of former Maharashtra Home Minister and senior NCP leader Anil Deshmukh.

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The Deshmukh family wields influence in the Nagpur-Vidarbha region of the state.

In 2014, Deshmukh had successfully contested the Katol seat from the BJP and defeated NCP’s Anil Deshmukh, however, in 2019, he rejoined Congress and unsuccessfully contested the Nagpur South West seat against BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis, then chief minister and now deputy chief minister.

The decision to suspend him was taken by the MPCC’s disciplinary action committee which is chaired by former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan.

In a recent TV interview, Deshmukh had said that Gandhi should apologise to the OBC community - days after the Wayanad MP was suspended from Lok Sabha after a Surat court convicted and sentenced him for two years in a defamation case failed against him for his references to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the OBC community.

He had also alleged that Patole received money from Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

“Since the charges levelled against you are grave and serious, you are hereby suspended from the primary membership of the party till further proceedings and final disposal of the matter,” the communication from Chavan to Deshmukh said.