Mumbai: Forward of the essential Mumbai municipal physique polls, the Congress changed its Mumbai chief Bhai Jagtap with Varsha Gaikwad — the primary girl to be appointed to the place.
Jagtap had been serving because the Mumbai Congress president since December 2020. Gaikwad, an MLA from Dharavi, is the Dalit face of the celebration. Her father Eknath Gaikwad had additionally served because the Mumbai Congress chief.
“This may solely occur within the Congress, the celebration which continues to nurture Mahamanav, Bharat Ratna Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar’s dream of a progressive, inclusive India. It’s an emotional second for me to step into the very place that my father held as soon as,” she posted on Twitter after the announcement Friday night time.
I wish to thank Congress President Shri @kharge ji , Smt. Sonia Gandhi ji, Shri @RahulGandhi ji, Smt. @priyankagandhi ji and your complete Congress parivar for making an abnormal Congress employee’s daughter, a Dalit girl the president of the Mumbai Congress. This may solely occur in…
— Prof. Varsha Eknath Gaikwad (@VarshaEGaikwad) June 9, 2023
Gaikwad started her political journey from Dharavi in 2004 and has been a four-time MLA from there. She had additionally been a minister within the earlier Congress-NCP authorities in 2009 and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) authorities in 2019.
A professor of arithmetic on the Siddharth Faculty of Arts, Science and Commerce in Mumbai, Gaikwad was the college training minister within the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA authorities. She additionally held portfolios of MoS medical training, larger and technical training in 2009 underneath CM Ashok Chavan. She was later given the cost of girls and baby improvement as nicely.
Gaikwad now faces a tricky problem with Lok Sabha, meeting and Brihanmumbai Municipal Company (BMC) elections prone to happen throughout the span of a yr. She is without doubt one of the solely 4 MLAs of the celebration out of 36 constituencies in Mumbai. The celebration at present doesn’t have any MP from the monetary capital.
ThePrint attain Jagtap and Gaikwad by way of name however didn’t obtain a response. This report can be up to date if and when a response is obtained.
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Jagtap ouster
Jagtap’s troubles started when he defeated Chandrakant Handore, the Congress’ first selection, within the Maharashtra Legislative Council election in June 2022. His substitute course of was delayed after the autumn of MVA authorities, Congress sources instructed ThePrint.
A senior Congress chief requesting anonymity mentioned that the excessive command had taken be aware of Handore’s defeat. “This went towards him. The truth that our first-choice chief was defeated and Jagtap, who was our second selection, acquired elected despatched a incorrect message,” the chief mentioned.
In response to the sources throughout the Congress, Mumbai MLAs, together with Gaikwad, have been additionally sad with Jagtap’s interference of their constituencies and demanded his removing.
Jagtap additionally had a public spat with Bandra (East) MLA Zeeshan Siddique, who wrote to the then celebration president Sonia Gandhi about Jagtap’s alleged use of foul language and “ill-treatment” throughout a public protest in November 2021.
One other MLA, who didn’t want to be named, instructed ThePrint, “It looks like he was operating a non-public firm. He doesn’t contain any of us and work on his personal. It gained’t work like that.”
BMC elections
The Congress has a standard vote financial institution in Mumbai, however it carried out poorly within the 2017 elections, successful solely 29 out of 227 seats.
After entering into an alliance with the undivided Shiv Sena in 2019, the celebration is claimed to be not sure about whether or not to contest alone or with Shiv Sena for the BMC polls. The BMC has been underneath state-appointed administrator’s rule since March 2022.
In 2021, Jagtap introduced that the Congress would go solo and contest all of the seats in BMC with none tie-up. Nonetheless, after the cut up within the Shiv Sena and the autumn of the MVA authorities, the Congress remains to be undecided on the alliance.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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