Pune Congress demands berth in Maharashtra cabinet

The city Congress leaders on Sunday demanded that Pune city be given representation in the state cabinet.

They have decided to meet chief minister, Prithviraj Chavan, on the issue. 

A meeting of party leaders was held at Congress Bhavan. MLA Vinayak Nimhan, MLCs Mohan Joshi and Deepti Chaudhari, city unit president Abhay Chhajed, deputy mayor Prassanna Jagtap, leader of opposition at the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) Aba Bagul, president of the state unit of the party’s women’s wing Kamal Vyavahare, and former mayor Shantilal Suratwala attended the meeting. 

According to Congress sources, city unit vice president Deepak Mankar demanded that a city Congress leader be inducted into the cabinet. The demand was supported by senior leaders of the city unit. 

There is apprehension in Congress circles that with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar becoming deputy chief minister, the NCP would dominate local politics. Some party leaders feel that the balance of power could be maintained only if a city Congress leader gets a berth in the state cabinet. 

Nevertheless, they put up a brave front, expressing confidence of winning the PMC elections, scheduled for February 2012, on their own They appealed to the top brass that the party should go on its own in the elections, without any alliance with the NCP.  

In the recent formation of the state cabinet, the city was left out. Former minister of state for home and Congress MLA, Ramesh Bagwe, has been kept out of the new cabinet. It was widely expected that Congress MLA from Shivajinagar constituency, Vinayak Nimhan, would be inducted into Prithviraj’s team. But at the last minute, his name was dropped.