The Congress’ secular agenda does not seem to apply to its organisational elections, and the intense lobbying by senior Congress leaders for the post of Mumbai Congress president is yet another example. The leaders are now using the caste card to push for their preferred candidates.
The state Congress unit has appealed to AICC president Sonia Gandhi to appoint all members of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) and the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC), including their presidents. However, the senior leaders have now started lobbying in New Delhi to get their own supporters on these committees. Chief minister Ashok Chavan, who wants to have complete control over the organisation so that he can “function smoothly”, is pushing for MLC Bhai Jagtap for the post of MRCC president. To strengthen Mr Jagtap’s candidature, a whisper campaign has been started that the next MRCC chief should be from the Maratha community.