Factionalism Intensifies in Pune Congress Over City President Change Demand

Pune, 20th July 2024: Demanding a change in the City President has once again stirred discord in the Pune Indian National Congress. A group of former office bearers of Pune Congress have made this demand and taken an aggressive stance. They have stated that if the party wants successful candidates in the upcoming Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections, there is no other option but to replace the current City President, Arvind Shinde. This has led to visible factionalism within the Pune Congress.

Former Minister of State (Home) Ramesh Bagwe, along with Datta Bahirat, Chandu Kadam, Ramdas Marne, Jayant Kirad, Vinod Ranpise, Ramesh Iyer, Gaurav Morale, Kanhoji Jedhe, Yashraj Parkhi, Rajendra Shirsath, and Sunil Malke, among others, made this demand and met with the General Secretary of the Indian National Congress, KC Venugopal, yesterday at Mumbai’s Tilak Bhavan. They alleged in front of Venugopal that due to the current City President, Congress lost in the Pune Lok Sabha elections.

A few days earlier, these office bearers had made similar demands to the Congress Maharashtra State President, Nana Patole. They alleged that despite having all the resources to win, the current City President, Arvind Shinde, failed to utilize them, and the lack of campaign planning severely affected the Congress candidate. They demanded that only by changing the Pune City President could Congress succeed in the upcoming elections. This request was also made to KC Venugopal.

They demanded that former corporator Chandu Kadam be made the new Pune City President of Congress. This demand, made shortly after the Lok Sabha results, highlighted the factionalism within Congress. With the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections approaching, this factionalism is expected to intensify.