Former NCP-SP Pune City Chief Prashant Jagtap is all set to join the Congress party today (Friday). The induction programme will be held at Tilak Bhavan in Mumbai’s Dadar in the presence of Maharashtra Congress Chief Harshwardhan Sapkal.
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.
Meanwhile, 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.
This came after Congress leader Satej Patil said he had received a proposal from Ajit Pawar to form an alliance for the Pune civic polls.
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.
