By Quaid Najmi

Mumbai, Feb 12 (IANS): In its 138-year long chequered history, the Congress is no stranger to political upheavals or crises, especially in Maharashtra -- where it was born in December 1885.

For the past month, the state unit has once again run into another such rough weather with many prophets of doom darkly predicting it's the end game for the grand old party.

Curiously, the Congress lands itself in some or the other mess around elections -- whether Parliamentary, Assembly, biennials or bypolls -- pushing it to the brink, much to the glee of political detractors, both within and outside.

The latest unrest brewed up ahead of the crucial All India Congress Committee (AICC) Session coming up in Raipur (February 26/27), where a decision is likely to be taken to conduct organisational polls at the state-level, including Pradesh Congress Committee chiefs.

It was in the run-up to the recent biennial MLC polls that resulted in the latest intra-party fracas that erupted into an open war of words between state Congress President Nana Patole and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Balasaheb Thorat.

The latest point of friction was the Nashik MLC seat in which certain machinations saw the official Congress nominee Sudhir Tambe dropping off at the last-minute in favour of his son Satyajeet Tambe, who happens to be Thorat's nephew.

Amid allegations hurled from all sides, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) promptly 'threw its doors open' to welcome anybody willing to switch sides, as many had done in the past.

State Congress Vice-President Ratnakar Mahajan, however, says that the developments regarding the Patole-Thorat fracas are "unfortunate and avoidable" -- especially when the party is bracing for two major elections in 2024 -- Lok Sabha and state Assembly, besides other civic polls.

A state working president said: "Whatever differences are there should have been sorted out internally, across the table instead of blowing it out in the open... This has disappointed the rank and file levels and given our opponents an opportunity to bash us."

Brushing aside apprehensions that the party is again tottering in the bastion state -- where it has ruled 52 years directly, indirectly or with allies and 'avatars' -- a veteran general secretary said that the Congress is poised to make "another comeback" after the Bharat Jodo Yatra (BJY).

"Is it the first time? The Congress has been tackling such delicate situations for over a century, starting with the rebellion of Lokmanya Tilak (1906). But after each internal onslaught, the party has emerged stronger... It will pass through this sticky patch soon," he countered the prophets of doom.

For more than mere historical reasons, the Congress and its top leaders remain a national obsession with all other parties, whether ruling or opposition or allies, and the smallest of events don't go unnoticed or unreported, as happened in the Patole-Thorat political duel.

This time while the Maha Vikas Aghadi ally Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has kept aloof, the Shiv Sena (UBT) peeped inside and aired its views publicly, virtually blaming Patole even for the fall of the MVA government in June 2022.

Viewing it as an affront, Congress Chief Spokesperson Atul Londhe hit back to defend Patole, the party and its policies, while advising Sena (UBT) to follow the 'alliance-dharma' and not poke its nose into others' affairs.

Concurring, Mahajan cautioned that if an ally makes such comments it could be detrimental to the MVA's future prospects particularly with a host of elections coming up in the next one year, starting with the civic polls.

At the grassroots level, Mumbai Congress' North Indian Cell Vice-President V.P. Singh feels that given the present state political scenario, senior leaders must shed their egos, iron out differences through indoor negotiations, ensure that the ordinary workers are not demoralised and the party can encash the BJY goodwill.

A central leader dismissed comparisons of the current ongoings with Sharad Pawar's thunderous exit from Congress in 1999, and feels that the possibility of Thorat or Tambe joining the BJP appear 'miniscule'.

"The circumstances facing Pawar then were different, and he later formed the NCP... The Thorat-Patole skirmish is purely a local level issue and will be resolved by the party leadership very soon," he pointed out.

On Sunday, AICC In-Charge of Maharashtra H.K. Patil is reaching Mumbai to douse the political fire before it spreads further or scalds the state Congress and MVA.

Most senior leaders at the state and central level are optimistic that an amicable settlement will emerge after Patil's visit and the Raipur AICC Session, and the resilient party will be battle-ready once again -- as in the past 138 years.