New Delhi:

Mumbai Congress veteran and five-time city corporator Ravi Raja joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) weeks ahead of the November 20 Assembly polls in Maharashtra. His resignation from the Congress ended his 44-year-old association with the grand old party.

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar welcomed Mr Raja into the party fold.

While not divulging names, Mr Fadnavis said that many notable Congress leaders would follow Mr Raja into the BJP. “People are confident that the Mahayuti government will make a comeback,” he said.

“Raja is like an encyclopedia for issues in Mumbai. He is an old friend of ours. Raja and his supporters’ decision to join the BJP would strengthen the party’s prospects ahead of Maharashtra assembly polls,” Mr Shelar said.

Addressing reports of issues being faced by the Mahayuti constituents – BJP, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit-Pawar-led NCP – over seat-sharing for the upcoming elections, Mr Fadnavis said that all issues have been ironed out and names will be announced soon.

Meanwhile, Mr Fadnavis also said that all efforts are on to placate senior party leader Gopal Shetty, who filed his nomination as an Independent from the Borivali constituency after the BJP chose Sanjay Upadhyay to contest from the north Mumbai seat.

The state of Maharashtra will witness single-phase polls on November 20, the results of which will be declared on November 23.

Mumbai:

Sixteen senior Maharashtra Congress leaders have written to party chief Mallikarjun Kharge demanding that its Mumbai unit chief Varsha Gaikwad be replaced to strengthen the party ahead of upcoming state poll.

The leaders complain that Ms Gaikwad, who recently won the Mumbai North Central Lok Sabha seat, does not have the time to work at the organisational level and have objected to her style of functioning, NDTV has learnt.

Mumbai North Lok Sabha seat’s Congress candidate Bhushan Patil has also claimed he received no help from the city party unit.

These leaders, in a letter dated June 16, have sought time from the Congress leadership to discuss rejuvenation of the party in Mumbai ahead of the assembly elections, and the Mumbai civic polls which are overdue.

Signatories of the letter include Rajya Sabha MP and Congress Working Committee member Chandrakant Handore, former city party chiefs Janardhan Chandurkar and Bhai Jagtap, senior leaders Naseem Khan, Suresh Shetty, Madhu Chavan, Charansingh Sapra, Zakir Ahmed and Maharashtra Congress treasurer Amarjit Manhas.

“Recently, at a protest in connection with the UGC-NET exam chaos, Gaikwad did not call all party leaders at the city unit office. Hence they had to stage a separate protest in suburbs,” reported news agency PTI citing a source. 

“It is now 13 months she is the city unit head, but she has not spearheaded any substantial activity to galvanize the party cadre,” the news agency reported claimed citing the unnamed source.

A meeting related to Maharashtra is scheduled in Delhi on Tuesday.

In the 2019 Maharashtra assembly polls, the Congress won only 4 of the 36 seats in Mumbai.

During the recently-concluded Lok Sabha elections, the Congress secured 1 of the 2 seats it contested in the city.