2017 BMC polls: Congress keeps warring factions busy

Sanjay Nirupam and Milind Deora will be heading two different committeesWhile the Shiv Sena and BJP continue their slugfest before deciding on whether they are going it alone or together the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee MRCC has rounded up all its warring leaders to combine efforts and contest the upcoming BMC polls The partyrsquos high command has approved 15 subcommittees to be led by influential leaders including former MPs expresidents and ministersGurudas KamatStar campaign team drawnThe MRCC subcommittees comprise leaders from various factions religions castescommunities and ethnic groups that have a sizable presence in the city and can swing election results For instance the partyrsquos all India general secretary exunion minister and former Mumbai Congress chief Gurudas Kamat who had dramatically quit a couple of months ago but was convinced to stay has been tasked with addressing many election rallies Kamat will lead a pack of star campaigners committee which has another fiery public speaker mdash former CM Narayan RaneDalit leaders Eknath Gaikwad exMP Janardan Chandurkar exMRCC president and Chandrakant Handore exsocial justice minister MLC Bhai Jagtap Janet DrsquoSouza and Javed Khan coordinator are other members of the star campaign team The key speakers will address major public meetings and corner meetingsOther than local star campaigners the Congress is also likely to bring in some national leaders to make its campaign more aggressive against the Shiv SenaBJP government in the BMCStrategy committee in placeExMRCC chief Kripashankar Singh who held ministerial positions in the state government and is known for his political shrewdness will head the election strategy committee MLAs Varsha Gaikwad and Aslam Sheikh Madhu Chavan and exminister Baba Siddiqui will be part of Kripashankarrsquos backroom teamExunion minister Milind Deora who is techsavvy and the current face of the partyrsquos youth will plan the entire campaign His team mdash Naseem Khan MLA Amin Patel MLA Dharmesh Vyas Ratnesh Singh and Bhushan Patil coordinator mdash will look after the creative aspects of campaign plans brainstorming ideas and executing them Campaign planning team will be supported by a social media team to be operated under the leadership of Sushiben ShahVision for MumbaiExMP Priya Dutt has been entrusted the job of making an effective poll manifesto and preparing a mission and vision for Mumbai She will have Siddiqui Upendra Joshi Ajanta Yadav Priyatama Sawant Maulana Zahir Rizvi and Charansingh Sapra coordinator in her teamStar campaigners manifesto and campaign planning committee will get vital inputs from the chargesheet committee that will dig out scams and failures of the SenaBJP combine The chargesheet committee to be headed by BMC veteran Shivji Singh will substantiate specific charges against the ruling parties with evidence and data Shivjirsquos team has senior corporator Pravin Cheda exMLA Ashok Jadhav Waqarunnisa Ansari Winnie DrsquoSouza and Mohsin Hyder coordinatorDemographics and activitiesExminister Suresh Shettyrsquos action plan committee will prepare demographic profiles of each electoral ward and prepare a strategy accordingly Meanwhile mass contact committee to be headed by Sapra will organise padayatras and blockwise meetings under a lsquoBMC ka Pol Kholrsquo expose the BMC programme in which the chargesheet panelrsquos material will be used extensivelyAlongside Varsha Gaikwad has been asked to lead a 13member team to hold pollrelated activities Her task will include making its doortodoor campaign more effectiveAs various communities hold a sway in certain pockets of Mumbai exMLA Yusuf Abrahani will have his team organize interactive sessions and public meetings with ethnic and caste groupsKeeping it all togetherSince violation of model code of election usually lands the party and candidates in big trouble a compliance team mdash to be headed by Ashok Shetty mdash will ensure laws and rules are followed while reorganisation delimitation of wards and reservations in 227 wards will be tackled by Baba Siddquirsquos teamUltimately though MRCC president Sanjay Nirupam will be overall incharge of the partyrsquos BMC polls process and he has taken it upon himself to raise funds for election management Nirupamrsquos close aide MRCC treasurer Aslam Sheikh Kamatrsquos trusted man Amarjit Singh Manhas Chitrasen Singh and Bhushan Patil coordinator will help in the process