VIDEO: Former NCP-SP Pune City Chief Prashant Jagtap Joins Congress Despite Calls From Uddhav Thackeray, Eknath Shinde

Former NCP-SP Pune City Chief Prashant Jagtap joined the Congress on Friday in the presence of the party's Maharashtra Congress Chief Harshwardhan Sapkal and senior leaders Vijay Wadettiwar and Manikrao Thakare. The induction programme was held at Tilak Bhavan in Mumbai’s Dadar.

Jagtap quit the NCP-SP on Tuesday after reportedly being unhappy with the party’s proposed alliance with the Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar-led faction for the January 15 Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) polls.

However, before Jagtap joined the Congress, he reportedly received calls from both Shiv Sena factions. Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde both called Jagtap, urging him to join their respective parties. However, Jagtap reportedly told them that he believes in the ideology of the Congress and would therefore join the party.

Who is Prashant Jagtap?

A firebrand leader, Jagtap remained with Sharad Pawar after the split in the NCP, saying he believed in the veteran leader’s progressive values. He led and organised various protests in the city over the last three years against the ruling Mahayuti.

Jagtap is a former mayor of Pune and a two-time corporator of the NCP. He also unsuccessfully contested the 2024 Assembly polls on an NCP-SP ticket from the Hadapsar constituency against NCP’s Chetan Tupe. Tupe secured 1.34 lakh votes, while Jagtap trailed with 1.27 lakh votes.

Congress to go solo in Pune?

The Congress has decided not to form an alliance with the NCP-SP, as it has apparently decided to contest the Pune civic polls independently, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) vice president Mohan Joshi said on Thursday.

The Congress is exploring the possibility of forming an alliance with “natural” Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) partners such as Shiv Sena (UBT) and other like-minded outfits, Joshi added