‘I have not resigned’: Nana Patole rejects resignation reports as Maharashtra Congress chief after poll drubbing

Maharashtra Election Result: Maharashtra Congress Chief Nana Patole on Monday rejected the reports of him stepping down as state Congress chief after the party's poor performance in Maharashtra assembly elections.

"I am going to meet Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, I have not given my resignation," Nana Patole told mediapersons on reports of his resignation as state Congress chief.

In the 288 seat Maharashtra assembly, the state Congress unit led by Patole and the Maha Vikas Aghadi were routed by the BJP-led Mahayuti in the one-sided contest. Congress won just 16 seats despite contesting over 100 seats.

In fact, Patole managed to save his own seat by a thin margin.

He defeated nearest BJP rival Avinash Brahmankar in the Sakoli assembly constituency, but managed to win the contest by a narrow margin of 208 votes.

Patole polled 96,795 votes, while his challenger from the BJP came close to bagging 96,587 votes. Independent nominee Somadatta Karanjekar was a distant third, bagging 18,309 votes.

Meanwhile, Patole on Sunday said that the Congress will ensure the newly-elected Mahayuti government fulfils promises it made to the people of the state in its election manifesto and speeches.

Addressing a press conference, the Congress leader said the Mahayuti, which banked on the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin scheme for its victory in the state election, should immediately fulfil its promise of raising the monthly allowance for women from ₹1,500 to 2,100.

The Mahayuti recorded a landslide victory, winning 230 out of 288 seats. The BJP bagged 132 seats, the Shiv Sena 57, and NCP 41 seats.

The MVA, on the other hand, managing to win just 46 seats together. The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) won 10 seats, Congress got 16, and Shiv Sena (UBT) 20 seats.

He said the All India Congress Committee (AICC) will conduct an inquiry into the outcome of the election and study what went wrong.