14 of 16 corporators quit after Congress gave all seats to the NCP.
Upset over the alliance partner Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) getting all the seats in the Navi Mumbai area, 14 of the 16 Congress corporators in the satellite city, along with the cell, ward and block heads, resigned from the party on Tuesday and floated a new outfit.
The rebel Congress leaders submitted their resignation letter to the city Congress chief Namdeo Bhagat on Tuesday who will submit the same to Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president Manikrao Thakre on Wednesday.
The new outfit, Navi Mumbai Vikas Alliance (NMVA), will field candidates from both Airoli as well as Belapur assembly constituency for the October 13 assembly elections. “We are not against the party and its leaders. We decided to field our own candidates for the benefit of the voters from Navi Mumbai. We strongly feel that at least one seat should have been given to the Congress. Since that didn’t happen, we decided to float our own party,” stated Namdeo Bhagat, who will contest from the Belapur constituency as the NMVA candidate.
Another alliance leader Santosh Shetty said, “We are not against Congress leadership but the NCP leaders, who damaged the future of Congress in Navi Mumbai. In fact, we are contesting to keep the Congress party alive in the city and to show our unity and strength.” Vashi corporator Dashrath Bhagat, who also resigned, said that the new party was floated to fight against the dynastic politics.
The leaders are, however, hoping that the party will get a seat before September 25, the last date to file nominations. “We still hope that the NCP-Congress alliance will give the Congress a seat in Navi Mumbai. If that happens, we won’t field any candidate,” said another NMVA leader.
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