Senior leader and MLC Ashok alias Bhai Jagtap will be the new president of the Mumbai unit of Congress, the party announced on Saturday. He will lead the city unit ahead of the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls, scheduled to be held in 2022. Mr. Jagtap replaces former MP Eknath Gaikwad.
Mr. Jagtap’s appointment comes after months of speculation over a number of names which were making the rounds within the party for the coveted post.
With this appointment, the Congress has chosen to hand over the baton to another Marathi leader, considered close to former Mumbai unit chief and former MP Milind Deora.
A first generation politician, Mr. Jagtap comes has a trade union background and belongs to a humble family. He is also the vice-president of the State unit of the party and the general secretary of Bharatiya Karmachari Kamgar Mahasangh, a conglomerate of labour unions. With Shiv Sena as an ally, the Congress has chosen a Marathi face to lead the party as it is set to face the civic polls.
Along with Mr. Jagtap, the party has also appointed former MLC Charan Singh Sapra as the working president of the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC). Dr. Amarjit Singh Manhas will be chairman of the co-ordination committee while former MLA Naseem Khan will head the campaign committee of the MRCC.
Former minister Suresh Shetty will lead the manifesto and publication committee while Chandrakant Handore will be the cooridnator between Maharashtra and Mumbai Congress committees.
The screening and strategy committee will be headed by State unit chief of the party along with Mr. Jagtap. Ganesh Yadav will be the secretary. With them, former CMs and State heads of the party, ministers in State cabinet from Mumbai, Leader of Opposition in BMC, and party leaders Priya Dutt, Amin Patel, Janet D’souza, Upender Doshi will be part of the committee.
