MUMBAI: All India Congress Committee secretary H K Patil, who is in-charge of Maharashtra, said on Thursday that the Mumbai Congress will have a new president by December end and added that no decision had been taken yet on the MVA allies contesting the 2022 BMC elections together.
"The post of the Mumbai Congress president has been lying vacant for more than a year now. I had a meeting with the main contenders recently. We expect that the new president will be appointed before December 31," Patil said.
A fortnight ago, Patil had a prolonged interaction with former legislator Charansingh Sapra, Bhai Jagtap and former minister Suresh Shetty. "The decision on the new Mumbai Congress chief will be taken by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi on the recommendation of H K Patil," a senior Congress minister said.
When his attention was drawn to CM Uddhav Thackeray's statement that the Congress, Shiv Sena and NCP would contest the ensuing BMC polls together, Patil said no such decision had been taken. "We will discuss the proposal within the party and then with Shiv Sena and NCP and take a decision," he said.
Patil said that despite adverse circumstances, particularly in view of the coronavirus pandemic, the performance of the one-year-old Maha Vikas Aghadi government had been impressive. "Despite the slowdown in the economy, the government has performed well," he said.
Patil however said since it was a three-party government, the Congress expects that the chief minister and leaders of all parties in the government will follow the 'coalition dharma' before taking any major policy decision. The reference was apparently to the NCP's recommendation of the name of Yashpal Binge for appointment on the legislative council.
On the appointments on state-run corporations and boards, Patil admitted that there had been a delay, but said there was a way out. "A decision should be taken on allotment of boards and corporations. Once a decision it taken, let the individual political parties appoint their nominees. It will be futile if we wait for the parties to take a decision," Patil said.
State energy minister Nitin Raut of the Congress said it was high time the government makes a separate budgetary provision for Scheduled Castes and tribal communities and ensures that it is utilized for this purpose. In a dig at the Sena and NCP, Raut said, referring particularly to funds allotted by the urban development department, "We found that civic bodies controlled by the Congress are given stepmotherly treatment, whereas corporations and councils controlled by NCP and Sena get more funds. This needs to be rectified on priority."