Congress appoints Eknath Gaikwad as Mumbai working president

The Dalit leader has been chosen to ensure social and regional balance, insiders believe

Extending its Maharashtra unit formula to the city unit, the Congress high command has given Mumbai Congress a working president in the form of former MP and party loyalist Eknath Gaikwad. The appointment comes three months before the state Assembly polls. However, since the decision on the resignation of city president Milind Deora is on hold, it is said that the former union minister may be asked to continue in the position as of now. In fact, it was Deora's idea to provide the city Congress a collective leadership of several working presidents. He had sent some names for forming a provisional three-member panel to oversee Mumbai affairs, saying that he would step down and was willing to work at the national level.

Deora was appointed ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, but quit following national president Rahul Gandhi's resignation. The All India Congress Committee hasn't accepted Gandhi's resignation either, though he has repeatedly said that he wasn't in the highest position any longer. Some days ago, the party-appointed Balasaheb Thorat as Maharashtra president and five working presidents to bolster the dilapidated organisation that has taken a sound drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls. Vishwajeet Kadam, Yashomati Thakur, Baswaraj Patil, Nitin Raut and Muzaffar Hussain took over as working presidents of the state unit, recently. The party ensured social and regional balance in appointing the working presidents. Gaikwad himself is an established Dalit leader who has represented the party in the Assembly and Parliament multiple times. He lost the recent Lok Sabha election from south central segment from where he has been an MP twice. His daughter Varsha Gaikwad is a Congress MLA from Dharavi.

'Cong only alternative'

Gaikwad told mid-day that he had seen the party's good and bad days in the past 60 years. "I did not go anywhere (another party). I have been working continuously for the party and I strongly believe that people know that the Congress is the only alternative to the BJP," he said. "But what is needed is that we must approach the people as quickly and convincingly as possible. The BJP is just a bubble which will burst one day," he said.

When asked whether there would be more working presidents for the city Congress, he said, "As of now there is just one. I don't know if the party would think of having more." He said Deora would continue to be Mumbai Regional Congress Committee's (MRCC) president. "We all will work together with a strong resolve to remove the BJP from the government," he said. He admitted there were problems in the Lok Sabha elections (campaign). "But we cannot remain stagnant. We will have to move forward and work for creating an atmosphere that favours Congress."

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