Mumbai Cong unit may get new head after Delhi polls

MUMBAI: With an eye on the February 2022 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, the Mumbai Congress is likely to go for a change of guard after the Delhi elections.

After Milind Deora resigned as the Mumbai Congress chief, with the party losing all six seats in the Lok Sabha elections, former MP Eknath Gaikwad has been leading the city unit. Among the probables for the post of the city unit chief are Deora, city unit vice-president Charan Singh Sapra, Arif Naseem Khan, Sachin Sawant, Bhai Jagtap and Amarjeet Singh Manhas. The aspirants are engaged in hectic lobbying on state- and Delhi-level.

Gaikwad’s appointment was always seen as a stop-gap arrangement, especially after his daughter, Varsha, was inducted into the state cabinet in the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. The party will appoint the head as it wants to regain ground in the city, where it was formed 134 years ago.

City leaders said that Deora, who headed the city unit for three months last year, may get the opportunity once again. There is a possibility that he may be nominated to the Rajya Sabha in an election expected in April. If Deora is picked for the Rajya Sabha, the party may look for another leader to lead the city unit. Sapra and Manhas met Deora recently, seeking his support. Until the death of former Union minister and party leader Gurudas Kamat in August 2018, the city unit was largely divided into two camps – Deora (led by the late Murli Deora and then his son Milind) and Kamat. “Leaders from the Kamat camp are lobbying for Manhas,” said a senior city leader.

State Congress leaders are likely to bat for a Marathi face like party spokesperson Sachin Sawant and party MLC Bhai Jagtap. Sawant shot to prominence during the Bjp-led regime in the state, as he exposed several cases of corruption in the government. He is a widely known face from the Congress among Maharashtrian households in Mumbai.

“With the chances of a Senacongress-ncp alliance in the civic polls, a Marathi face could help regain the confidence of the community,” said a senior state Congress leader. “The party’s Muslim faces in Mumbai – Amin Patel and Arif Naseem – too are in the race if the leadership decides to pick a leader from the minority community,” another city leader said.

Like the Mumbai Congress, the party is expected to change the state unit head, as incumbent state chief Balasaheb Thorat is shouldering too many responsibilities. He is the legislative party leader for the Congress and revenue minister in the MVA government.

Former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and former MP Rajiv Satav are in the reckoning for the post.