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By:

Rajendra Pandharpure

15 April 2025 at 2:25:54 pm

Congress bets on dual leadership in Pune

Party’s unprecedented East-West division aims to curb factionalism and revive its fortunes ahead of 2029 polls Dipti Chaudhari Prashant Jagtap Pune: The Congress party has appointed two city presidents for Pune, marking the first time it has adopted such a structure in the city. By geographically dividing Pune into eastern and western zones, the party has appointed former Mayor Prashant...

Congress bets on dual leadership in Pune

Party’s unprecedented East-West division aims to curb factionalism and revive its fortunes ahead of 2029 polls Dipti Chaudhari Prashant Jagtap Pune: The Congress party has appointed two city presidents for Pune, marking the first time it has adopted such a structure in the city. By geographically dividing Pune into eastern and western zones, the party has appointed former Mayor Prashant Jagtap to head the eastern zone and former MLA Dipti Chaudhari to lead the western zone. The entire selection process bears the distinct imprint of State Congress President Harshvardhan Sapkale. While making these appointments, Sapkale sought to strike a balance between caste representation and gender representation by giving an opportunity to a woman leader. Prashant Jagtap had previously served as the city president of senior leader Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). He had opposed the proposal to contest municipal elections in alliance with the faction led by Ajit Pawar. Standing firm on this position, he resigned from his post as city president of the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar faction). Positive Response Jagtap’s decision received a positive response across Maharashtra. He later joined the Congress party, where he received a warm welcome. At the time, there was considerable speculation over whether the Congress would be able to secure even five seats in the municipal elections. However, largely due to Jagtap’s entry into the party, 15 Congress corporators were elected, effectively halting the party’s downward slide in Pune. Recognising both his performance and his studious approach to politics, Sapkale entrusted him with the responsibility of leading the city unit. The prevailing sentiment within the Pune Congress is that Sapkale has carefully nurtured a young leader and assigned him a role commensurate with his abilities. Dipti Chaudhari, the newly appointed city president for the western zone, is a former Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) and a former Mayor of Pune. She has remained consistently active in party work and is regarded as a dedicated grassroots leader. Party workers believe her image and organisational experience could benefit the Congress in western Pune. To curb factionalism within the Pune Congress, the state leadership has introduced structural changes within the organisation itself. Even as the party declined after 2014, factionalism within the city unit continued unabated. On one notable occasion, during protests organised against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, two separate demonstrations were held by rival factions of the same party. Many within the Congress believe the then state leadership should have intervened decisively at the time. Instead, no corrective action was taken and factionalism only deepened further. Road Ahead Congress workers are now hopeful that Sapkale’s firm decisions will help rein in these divisions. Sapkale has undertaken the task of rebuilding the party organisation with a clear focus on the 2029 Lok Sabha and Maharashtra Assembly elections. During the recent by-election in Baramati, he asserted the Congress party’s rightful claim over the seat and also declared that the party would contest the 2029 Assembly election from Baramati independently. In keeping with that broader strategy, he has now initiated efforts to expand the Congress party’s organisational presence in Pune. At present, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) also has two city presidents in Pune — Sunil Tingre for the eastern zone and Subhash Jagtap for the western zone. In the past, parties such as the Shiv Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) have similarly experimented with appointing multiple city chiefs. Both the Congress and the BJP are national parties, and given Pune’s political significance, the prevailing practice until now had been to appoint a single city president to represent the entire organisation during city-wide programmes and political campaigns. The Congress has now departed from that model. It remains to be seen whether this revised organisational strategy succeeds in curbing factionalism and strengthening the party in Pune.

People praise Army for protecting

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah interacts with displaced border residents at a shelter camp.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah interacts with displaced border residents at a shelter camp.

Garkhal (J&K): Men and machines of the armed forces worked meticulously to ensure the interception of Kamikaze drones and missiles fired by Pakistani troops targeting Jammu, drawing widespread appreciation from people.


India on Thursday night swiftly thwarted Pakistan's fresh attempts to strike military sites with drones and missiles, including in Jammu and Pathankot, after foiling similar bids at 15 locations across the country's northern and western regions, amid a military conflict between the two neighbours.


Looking after the operational area of Jammu under the command of the 9 Corps, the 26 Infantry Division, nicknamed the "Tiger Division", had put in place a robust air-defence system, virtually carving out an Israel-type Iron Dome to protect Jammu from a Hamas-style attack by Pakistan.


An official who was privy to the developments said it was a meticulous combination of men and machines in defence that thwarted such a massive Pakistani attack.


In the dead of night, Pakistan unleashed its most audacious assault on Jammu since the 1971 war, deploying a swarm of more than a hundred Kamikaze drones and missiles in a sinister attempt to devastate the city. But what followed was a show of unmatched precision, courage and resilience.


"We are indebted to our armed forces who have saved Jammu from a major attack by Pakistan. We appreciate them for their missionary work. We never thought these bombs could be neutralised in the air," Garkhal resident Sikender Singh said.


Singh, whose family, along with more than 500 villagers, has shifted to safer camps set up by the government in Mishriwala on the Jammu outskirts, said had the bombs not been intercepted, they could have caused massive deaths and destruction.


Finest system

The Army, backed by one of the world's finest air-defence systems, intercepted the aerial barrage with astonishing accuracy -- virtually every hostile object was destroyed mid-air. Not a single vital installation was touched. Not a single civilian life was lost.


"Eight missiles from Pakistan were directed at Satwari, Samba, R S Pura and Arnia. All were intercepted and blocked by air-defence units. Visuals over Jammu reminded exactly of a Hamas-style attack on Israel, like multiple cheap rockets," an Army official said.


He said the Pakistan Army is operating and behaving like Hamas. "Drones were sighted at multiple places along the western front -- confirmed to be hostile. They are being effectively engaged by our air-defence systems. Pakistani drone attacks have been reported at various locations along the western borders and are being effectively countered by the Indian armed forces," he added.


The multi-tier air-defence system, with a twin technological security architecture of Russian and Israeli surface-to-air missile setups and the indigenous Akash, was a game changer against such attacks.


Former Jammu and Kashmir director general of police S P Vaid appreciated the armed forces and their technological security systems for effectively dealing with the Pakistani attacks.


He said 50 to 60 air attacks by Pakistan over Jammu and other places were neutralised on Thursday night by the impregnable air-defence system of the country.


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