Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole said the party will not support independent candidate Satyajit Tambe in the biennial Legislative Council polls, a day after the latter filed nomination when his father and senior legislator Sudhir Tambe opted out of fray, leaving the party red-faced.
According to a report of PTI, Patole told reporters in Nagpur that Sudhir Tambe, the outgoing MLC from the Nashik division graduates constituency, cheated the Congress by not filing nomination from the seat as he was the party's official candidate.
The Congress will not support Satyajit Tambe's candidature and the future course of action will be decided after discussion with the leadership, he said.
The Congress was left red-faced on Thursday, the last day for filing nominations for the January 30 MLC polls, when Sudhir Tambe, the party's official candidate and a three-time MLC, withdrew from the fray and announced his son would fight the polls.
Thereafter, Satyajit Tambe, a Youth Congress leader, filed nomination as an independent candidate from the constituency and immediately sought support from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Senior Congress leaders and former chief ministers Prithviraj Chavan and Ashok Chavan said the party is left with no candidate in the Nashik division graduates seat after the political somersault by the senior Tambe.
Ashok Chavan said the last minute twist in candidature for the Council polls from the constituency involving the father-son duo was a serious issue and a loss to the party.
He said his colleague and former state minister Balasaheb Thorat, who is the brother-in-law of three-time MLC Sudhir Tambe, would have additional information on the chain of events which culminated in Satyajit Tambe filing nomination as an independent candidate.