• Source:JND
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Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole resigned from his position on Monday following the party's poor performance in the Assembly elections, where it secured only 16 out of the 103 seats it contested. Notably, Patole won his own Sakoli seat by a narrow margin of just 208 votes. 

Patole assumed charge as Maharashtra PCC chief in 2021 after replacing Balasaheb Thorat. The Congress amassed 13 out of 17 Lok Sabha seats it contested in Maharashtra. This was the highest score among the constituents of Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA).

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Patole was in the middle of a row throughout the campaign in Maharashtra due to his contentious statements. He sparked a controversy with a purported "dog" jibe against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), criticising its treatment of the OBC community in Akola district.

"I want to ask, will the OBC people of Akola district vote for the BJP who are calling you dogs? It is time to make the BJP a dog now; they have become so arrogant," Patole said while campaigning for the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance.

Patole also staked Congress' claim to the CM post two days before the results were announced. His statement irked the Uddhav Thackeray camp, with Sanjay Raut stating that they would not accept this unilateral remark.

The BJP-led Mahayuti secured a landslide victory in Maharashtra on Saturday, winning an impressive 230 of the 288 assembly seats. In contrast, the Congress-led MVA's dream of reclaiming power quickly faded, with the opposition alliance managing to secure only 46 seats.

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With Mahayuti’s mammoth win, discussions about potential Chief Ministerial candidates are gaining momentum. While Shiv Sena workers argue that the mandate was in favour of Eknath Shinde's leadership, the BJP is keen to stake its claim to the top post, as it has emerged as the single largest party.