Denied ticket, this Congress MLA takes away chairs from party office

Apparently upset over denial of ticket for the Lok Sabha polls, Congress MLA Abdul Sattar on Tuesday took away about 300 chairs from the local party office in Aurangabad in Central Maharashtra with the help of his supporters. Sattar, the MLA from Sillod, said he has quit the party and claimed the chairs belonged to him.

The local unit of the Congress had called a joint meeting with ally NCP at its office Gandhi Bhawan in Shahgunj locality.

However, ahead of the meeting, Sattar with the help of his supporters removed about 300 chairs from the party office. The meeting was later held at the NCP office here.

Sattar, considered a prominent leader of the Congress in this district, was hoping to get party ticket for the Aurangabad Lok Sabha seat.

However, the Congress decided to field MLC Subash Zhambad from the seat and this apparently irked Sattar. On Tuesday, he learnt about the meeting at the Gandhi Bhawan. Before the meeting, his workers took away all the chairs with them, claiming they were provided by Sattar.

Speaking to PTI, Sattar said, "Yes the chairs were mine and we were providing them for Congress meetings. Now I have left the party so took my chairs back. Those who got the candidature should make arrangements for the campaign."

Seeking to downplay the incident, Zhambad said, "Sattar might be in need of chairs so he took them away. We are not disappointed. Sattar is still in the Congress as his resignation has not been accepted yet."