Manikrao Thakre resigns as deputy chairman of Maha council

Maharashtra Legislative Council deputy chairman and senior Congress leader Manikrao Thakre resigned today.

"Manikrao Thakre has tendered his resignation as the deputy chairman of the Upper House," announced Council chairman Ramraje Nimbalkar.

He was responding to a Point of Information raised by an MLC.

Thakre, whose term would have ended as an MLC on July 27, was earlier denied renomination for the post of the deputy chairman by the Congress.

When contacted, Thakre told PTI that he has resigned on the directions of the party leadership to ensure that the post of the deputy chairman remains with the Congress.

"The party wants the election process for the deputy chairman post to start before the end of the ongoing monsoon session of the state legislature on July 20," said Thakre, a former president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC).

The Congress had denied renomination of Thakre ahead of the July 16 elections to 11 seats of MLCs that had fallen vacant.

However, all the MLCs were elected unopposed before the polls, after BJP nominee Prithviraj Deshmukh withdrew his nomination as the sixth candidate from the party.

Of the eleven seats, the BJP has five seats including that of state Animal Husbandry Minister Mahadeo Jankar of the Rashtriya Samaj Paksh (RSP), a constituent of the BJP-led state government.

The Shiv Sena and Congress have two seats each and the NCP and the Peasant and Workers Party (PWP) one each.