Congress appoints 69 city and district chiefs in Maharashtra to rebuild party with eye on 2029 polls

Pune: The All-India Congress Committee (AICC) has appointed 69 new city and district presidents in Maharashtra with an eye on the 2029 elections. AICC general secretary K C Venugopal issued the letter, along with a list of new appointees, on Wednesday.According to Congress members, the appointments have been made following the party's ‘Sanghatan Srijan Abhiyan', where observers visited several districts and interacted with party workers to identify new leadership to strengthen the party at the grassroots for future elections.The decision to restructure the party was taken following the local body polls held in the state where Congress contested solo in many places. Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee's vice-president Mohan Joshi said, "Though we continue to be part of the MVA, our party is focusing on strengthening its presence in all the districts to regain lost ground. AICC has given some fresh faces who worked hard for the party during the recent civic polls the opportunity."He added that while appointing 69 city and district presidents, the party focused on social engineering where various castes have been given representation. These new appointees will raise issues concerning common people," Joshi said.In a bid to revive the party's base in the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) region after facing a major defeat in the recent civic polls, Congress has appointed separate district presidents for Kalyan and Dombivli. Naveen Singh has been appointed Congress district president for Kalyan, and Amit Mhatre for Dombivli. Singh has earlier served in the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress executive committee and was also a nominated corporator in KDMC. As Kalyan district president, said Singh, he would work towards strengthening the party organisation and reconnecting with workers at the grassroots level.Mhatre, considered a veteran Congressman in Dombivli, comes from a family associated with the party for several years. Local leaders believe his appointment could help Congress regain some lost ground in the city.In the past, Congress dominated KDMC by winning a maximum 21 seats in alliance with NCP in 2005, but the party's tally reduced to just two seats in the recent civic polls.The Pune city unit of the Congress has also undergone a rejig. AICC has created two positions of party chiefs for Pune city to have coordination within the party leadership. Corporator from Wanowrie Prashant Jagtap, who recently switched from NCP (SP) to Congress, will be the East Pune chief. Former mayor Deeptie Chawadary has been appointed as the West Pune chief.Pune rural area has also been divided into two sections where Kamlakar Satav is the Pune rural North chief, while Lahu Nivangune will head Pune rural South. The party appointed Narendra Bansode as its Pimpri-Chinchwad unit chief.Congress MLC Satej Patil has been re-appointed president of the party's Kolhapur district unit and Sanjay Kamble has been appointed president of the Ichalkaranji city unit, a position he has held for the past seven years. In Kolhapur city, Congress replaced Sachin Chavan with KMC corporator Pravin Kesarkar as unit president.