Mumbai: The Congress on Thursday announced that former Buldhana legislator Harshwardhan Sapkal will be its state president. He will replace Nana Patole.
Sapkal is a loyal Congress worker and is considered a close associate of the Gandhi family. He served as MLA for the Buldhana constituency from 2014 to 2019. He is also a former president of the Buldhana Zilla Parishad.
Sakpal currently holds the position of national president of the Rajiv Gandhi Panchayati Raj Organisation.
Several leaders, including Satej Patil from Kolhapur, Amit Deshmukh from Latur, and Vishwajit Kadam from Sangli, were considered for the position. However, there were talks that no one was willing to take up the state president’s post given the party’s current situation. In the end, Sapkal was appointed to the role.
In the Lok Sabha election, the Congress emerged as the largest party in Maharashtra, winning 13 seats. The strong performance raised expectations from the assembly election. As a result, the Congress was allotted more seats during seat-sharing negotiations of the Maha Vikas Aghadi.
However, the final results showed a significant setback for Congress.
The entire MVA was limited to just 49 seats. Taking responsibility for the defeat, Patole resigned from his post. Local body elections are set to take place in Maharashtra in the near future. Against this backdrop, this leadership change is considered significant.
Sapkal has been consistently working for the empowerment of tribal communities and villages in Buldhana district for the past 25 years. From 1999 to 2002, he was recognised as the youngest zilla parishad president in Maharashtra. Notably, under his leadership, the Buldhana zilla parishad ranked among the best in the state.
Currently, he serves as the national president of the Rajiv Gandhi Panchayati Raj Organisation under the All India Congress Committee (AICC). Previously, he held key positions such as national secretary of the AICC, New Delhi, and national vice president of the Rajiv Gandhi Panchayati Raj Organisation.
He has also served as the secretary of the Congress and worked as the co-in-charge of Punjab. Previously, he held the same responsibility for the states of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
Wadettiwar leader of legislature party
Vijay Wadettiwar has been appointed as leader of the Congress Legislative Party in the Maharashtra Assembly. He served as leader of the opposition during the Shinde government. He is also a former minister. In the 2024 assembly election, the Congress won 16 seats, and several senior leaders faced defeat. Given this scenario, the party has now entrusted Wadettiwar with the responsibility of leading the legislative wing. Notably, both key positions – state president and legislative party leader – have been assigned to leaders from Vidarbha.
