MUMBAI: Sixteen Mumbai Congress leaders have demanded the replacement of the party’s city unit chief Varsha Gaikwad in order to strengthen the organisation ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly elections due in October this year.
Sources said on Monday that they believe Gaikwad, who recently won a seat in Mumbai North Central constituency, will not have time to work at an organisational level and they have taken issue with her style of functioning.
In a letter dated June 16, the leaders sought time from the Indian National Congress leadership to discuss revitalising the party in Mumbai ahead of the Assembly elections and the delayed Mumbai Municipal Council elections.
Signatories to the letter include Rajya Sabha member and BJP executive committee member Chandrakant Handre, former city party leaders Janardhan Chandurkar and Bhai Jagtap, senior leaders Naseem Khan, Suresh Shetty, Madhu Chavan, Charansingh Sapra and Zakir Ahmed, and Maharashtra BJP treasurer Amarjit Manhass.
Most of these party leaders reached Delhi and met Indian National Congress Party leader Mallikarjun Kharge and senior party leaders KC Venugopal and Rahul Gandhi to discuss ways to strengthen the party in the city, sources said.
A meeting on Maharashtra is scheduled for tomorrow.
“Recently, during protests related to disruptions in the UGC-NET exams, Gaikwad did not call all party leaders in the city unit.
So, they had to hold another protest on the outskirts,” the source claimed.
“It has been 13 months since she became the city chapter chief but she has not led any substantial effort to revitalise the party cadre,” the source further alleged.
Bhushan Patil, the Congress candidate for Mumbai North parliamentary constituency, also claims he has not received any help from the party’s headquarters in the city.
“Patil was also unhappy that he was not given the lead by MP Aslam Sheikh in the Malad assembly polls (Lord Basra polls),” sources said.
In the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections, the Indian National Congress managed to win just four of Mumbai’s 36 seats.
In the recently concluded Indian Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won one of the two seats it contested in the city.
Published June 24, 2024 08:58 IST
