Mumbai: Prashant Jagtap, Pune city chief of NCP (SP), joined the Congress, its alliance partner, on Friday in Mumbai in the presence of state Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal and Congress legislature party leader Vijay Wadettiwar.A former Pune mayor, Jagtap’s departure followed an indication by party leader Supriya Sule that NCP (SP) might align with her cousin Ajit Pawar‘s NCP in Pune. Jagtap stated he remained with Sharad Pawar after the party split due to his ideology and for that, he faced a tough time from Ajit Pawar.Congress remained uncertain about an alliance in Pune with NCP (SP) following its discussions with the Ajit Pawar-led NCP. Congress was expected to play a smaller role in the city due to its weaker presence in the case of alliance with NCP (SP), but Jagtap’s switch gave the party a boost. The Congress is also in talks with the VBA, which is demanding over 50 seats to contest in Pune. Sapkal said, “Parties function on ideology, and Congress is fighting this ideological battle with sincerity and determination. However, today some parties are focused only on power, amassing money through corrupt means, and winning elections using that money. Jagtap has joined the Congress for an ideological fight.”Wadettiwar said that Jagtap took a firm stand that he would not align with communal forces.The Congress also felicitated the newly elected 41 municipal presidents and 1,006 corporators of recently held municipal and nagar panchayat elections at Tilak Bhavan in Dadar.
