Mumbai: The Congress has suspended Dr Sudhir Tambe and initiated an inquiry to ascertain why he did not file the forms to contest the upcoming Maharashtra legislative council polls, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) said in a press statement Sunday.
Asked about the developments, Atul Londhe Patil, chief spokesperson of the Maharashtra Congress, told ThePrint, “The party has suspended Sudhir Tambe and there is an inquiry against him. I have nothing more to add.”
Tambe, on the other hand, said in a tweet Sunday, “I am of the clear opinion that the stand taken by the Congress party with reference to me is not fair. The truth will come out after investigation. I believe in justice.”
Tambe, a relative of Balasaheb Thorat — leader of the Congress legislative party in Maharashtra assembly — was the party’s official candidate from the Nashik graduates constituency for the MLC polls slated for 30 January. However, Tambe’s failure to file his nomination before the deadline gave way for his son Satyajeet to contest as an Independent from the seat without the consent of the state Congress unit.
Sudhir Tambe has represented the Nashik graduates constituency in the Vidhan Parishad for three terms.
Unlike when it fell short of reprimanding MLAs suspected of cross-voting in the MLC polls last June, the Maharashtra Congress was quick to act this time around by placing Tambe under suspension and initiating an inquiry.
At least seven Congress MLAs were suspected to have cross-voted in the MLC polls, leading to the party’s failure in getting one of its candidates, Chandrakant Handore, elected to the legislative council. Soon after, Congress had formed a one-man committee to submit a report to the high command but no subsequent action was taken against the errant MLAs.
In this case, when asked why he filed a nomination as an Independent instead of his father contesting the MLC polls as a Congress candidate, Satyajeet Tambe told reporters that he filed “two nomination papers” owing to a “technical problem”.
While Satyajeet maintained that he would remain a Congress and Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidate, the 39-year-old said he would seek the endorsement of all parties. “Devendra Fadnavis (Deputy CM of Maharashtra) and other BJP leaders often speak about encouraging youngsters. I will be meeting them to seek their support,” he was quoted as saying.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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