July 7th 2023.
Pune: On Thursday, the Nationalist Congress Party's (NCP) Pune Unit appointed Deepak Mankar as President of the City Unit, following a power struggle between Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar. Mankar, who is a strong supporter of Ajit Pawar, had already asked former city chief Prashant Jagtap to hand over the keys of the city unit office.
Mankar had stated that the office should be under the party's name, and not in Jagtap's name. He had added that setting up a new office in the city was not a significant issue and mentioned plans to establish it near Congress House soon. He is confident that Jagtap would join Team Ajit Pawar in the coming days as 80% of the party workers are already aligned with Ajit Pawar.
Mankar clarified that he would not be requesting Jagtap to hand over the keys, as the office rightfully belongs to their faction. He expressed his intention to avoid unnecessary controversies and instead dedicate his time to the party's improvement. He also announced that Ajit Pawar would be visiting the city on Saturday.
In a show of support for Ajit Pawar, his supporters conducted a grand Aarti at the Dagdusheth Halwai Ganapati Temple in Pune. The newly appointed spokesperson, Rupali Thombre, along with Pradeep Deshmukh and numerous party workers, actively participated in the Aarti.
In the midst of this crisis, the NCP Pune Unit passed a resolution, supporting Sharad Pawar and his leadership. The resolution also underscored the need for the party to unify and work towards securing the upcoming civic polls.
The NCP is determined to reclaim the ground it lost to the BJP in the Pune Municipal Corporation during the 2017 elections. With Mankar's appointment, the party is hoping to strengthen their presence in the city. The Pune team is expected to be announced within the next 15 days.
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