Maharashtra: Congress Expels Former MLA Ashish Deshmukh For Anti-Party Comments

Deshmukh had previously stated that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi owed an apology to the Other Backward Class (OBC) community for his "Modi surname" remarks.

The Maharashtra Congress has suspended former MLA Ashish Deshmukh for six years for making public statements critical of the party's leadership. Deshmukh was expelled by senior Congress leader and former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, chairperson of the state Congress disciplinary committee, in a letter dated May 22.

According to the letter, the committee discussed Dehmukh's response to a show cause notice issued to him on April 9.

In a letter, the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) said: "We found the reply regarding your public utterances against the party unsatisfactory. You are expelled from the primary membership of the party for six years with immediate effect".

Deshmukh had previously stated that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi owed an apology to the Other Backward Class (OBC) community for his "Modi surname" remarks. He also accused state Congress president Nana Patole of working with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Deshmukh is a former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Nagpur's Katol district who later joined the Congress. In the 2019 Assembly elections, he ran against BJP leader and current Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis from Nagpur South West.

He is the son of Ranjit Deshmukh, the former state Congress chief.

Last month, Ashish Deshmukh called the show-cause notice issued to him "unfortunate," claiming it was part of a "larger conspiracy" because he had questioned the party leaders and their working style. 

Earlier on April 9, Ashish Deshmukh stated that he had no intention of leaving the party and that his suspension would be lifted once his response was received by the authority.

The notice was issued by the Maharashtra Congress' disciplinary committee, which is chaired by former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, after he claimed that the state unit president, Nana Patole, accepted money from Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Deshmukh told The Indian Express, "As per the notice sent to me, I have been asked to explain two of my statements in order to avoid expulsion. I believe that if I respond to them, they will not expel me".

Deshmukh had written to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in January 2023, requesting Patole's removal, blaming him for the party's dwindling fortunes in the state.