The Congress has appointed four-time MLA Amin Patel as the party`s deputy leader in the Maharashtra legislative assembly and Amit Deshmukh as its chief whip.
The party, in a statement, said Vishwajeet Kadam has been appointed as the secretary of the party`s assembly group, while Shirish Naik and Sanjay Meshram will be whips.
Patel, a senior leader of the Mumbai Congress, is a four-time MLA from the Mumbadevi constituency.
The Congress is down to 16 legislators, its worst-ever tally in the state legislative assembly.
The party has appointed Satej Patil as the group leader in the state legislative council and has made Abhijit Vanjari the chief whip and Rajesh Rathod as the whip.
The party has eight MLCs.
Congress has already named Vijay Wadettiwar as the legislative party leader.
The three-week budget session of the Maharashtra assembly begins on March 3.
Harshwardhan Sapkal takes charge as Maharashtra Congress chief, says he will work to bring party back to power in state
Newly-appointed Maharashtra Congress President Harshwardhan Sapkal took charge of his post and said he would work to strengthen the party`s organisation in the state and bring it back to power.
Speaking at the party meeting after taking over from former state unit chief Nana Patole, Sapkal sought cooperation from party workers as well as leaders to revive Congress in Maharashtra.
“If we don`t try, we will not succeed,” he said.
He also attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party over its drive to enroll one crore members in Maharashtra and its claim to be the biggest party, adding that it was actually weak in the state.
“If it is the biggest political party, what was the need for it to break the Shiv Sena and NCP (Nationalist Congress Party), and take Congress leaders in its fold,” he said.
Sapkal said he wants honest and committed workers for rebuilding the party in Maharashtra.
“I want to tell AICC (All-India Congress Committee) in-charge Ramesh Chennithala that I will not vie for any other post, including chief minister (CM). I don`t want to become CM, MP (Member of Parliament) or MLA (Member of Legislative Assembly). I will work to ensure that the party returns to power and a Congress leader becomes chief minister,” he said.
