Fresh move to remove Varsha Gaikwad as Mumbai Congress chief

Ahead of the Mumbai civic polls, a renewed effort has begun within a section of the Congress unit to oust its Mumbai president and Lok Sabha MP Varsha Gaikwad. A few leaders in Mumbai Congress have accused Gaikwad of not being able to give any direction to the party organisation and of running the party with a coterie that is allegedly running the party to the ground. Maharashtra Congress in-charge Ramesh Chennithala is scheduled to have a one-on-one meeting with ten members of the Political Affairs Committee on August 12 in Pune which may decide Gaikwad's fate. Chennithala will be in Pune during the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee's (MPCC's) two-day workshop for its party cadres on August 12 and 13.

This is the second attempt by a section of the Mumbai Congress to shunt out Gaikwad. On June 16, ET had reported how several Congress leaders had approached the party top brass to remove Gaikwad. The main grouse that Congress leaders have made against Varsha is that she is inaccessible, not open to suggestions and has not been able to take the party rank and file along.