Wadettiwar camp sweeps Chanda standing panel, rift widens in Cong

Chandrapur: Factional strife within the Congress in Chandrapur Municipal Corporation (CMC) surfaced on Thursday after all seven standing committee seats allocated to the party were filled by corporators belonging to the Vijay Wadettiwar camp, triggering protests and a boycott by supporters of MP Pratibha Dhanorkar.The development unfolded during CMC's first general body meeting, chaired by mayor Sangeeta Khandekar. The civic body approved the election of 16 members to the influential standing committee based on the numerical strength of parties in the House.
While the Congress secured seven seats, BJP-Shiv Sena (Shinde) alliance got six, Shiv Sena (UBT) and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi together got two each, and the Mahanagar Aghadi secured one seat.However, the selection of all seven Congress members from Wadettiwar camp angered corporators aligned with Dhanorkar, who staged a walkout from the meeting in protest. The episode has once again highlighted the deepening internal divisions within the party in Chandrapur.Sources said the nominations were submitted by party group leaders in sealed envelopes during the meeting, after which the mayor formally announced the list of elected members. Municipal officials said election of the standing committee chairperson will be conducted in the coming days once the divisional commissioner announces a formal election schedule.Later in the evening, the controversy escalated when Chandrapur city Congress president Santosh Lahamge accused Congress group leader Rajesh Adoor of defying explicit instructions from the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee. Addressing a press conference, Lahamge claimed that state Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal had instructed Adoor over the phone to finalise the names after consulting both MP Pratibha Dhanorkar and MLA Vijay Wadettiwar. He alleged that despite these directions, Adoor submitted names of his choice, effectively ignoring the party's official recommendations. "This is not merely a misuse of authority but a direct challenge to the state leadership," Lahamge said, demanding Adoor's immediate removal as the Congress group leader in CMC.