Amid internal friction within the Congress following the Chandrapur Municipal Corporation elections, Congress Legislative Party leader in Maharashtra Assembly, Vijay Wadettiwar, on Wednesday said he was confident that the crisis would be resolved soon and that the party would secure the mayor’s post in the civic body.
Responding to recent criticism by party MP Pratibha Dhanorkar, Wadettiwar addressed the controversy over ticket distribution and alleged that several corporators who had supported Shivani Wadettiwar’s Lok Sabha candidature were denied tickets in the municipal polls.
“I chose to ignore these issues at the time to avoid conflict during the polls. Even during the Assembly elections, the MP held rallies in the Brahmapuri constituency calling for a Kunbi MLA to be elected, which created local challenges. However, the public looked past these tactics and voted for us. Becoming an MP or an MLA does not make one the owner of the party. The worker is the soul of the party,” Wadettiwar said.
Wadettiwar, who has worked for the Congress in Chandrapur district for 25 years, said forcibly taking away corporators or making inflammatory public statements only harms the party’s image. He added that the MP’s recent remarks could be the result of a “misunderstanding”.
On the high-level meeting scheduled in Nagpur later in the day with state Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal and party secretaries, Wadettiwar said the leadership should focus on engaging with elected corporators rather than only senior leaders.
“The decision on the mayor and the group leader should be based on the views of these grassroots representatives,” he said.
His remarks come at a time when tensions within the Chandrapur district unit have spilled into the open, with a public war of words between Wadettiwar and Dhanorkar over leadership selection and organisational control. The dispute has prompted the state Congress leadership to step in.
Dhanorkar has accused Wadettiwar of forcibly “lifting” newly elected corporators. The situation worsened during discussions on appointing key office-bearers in the district, with both leaders pushing for their supporters to be placed in influential positions. Supporters of the two camps have begun functioning independently, sidestepping the party’s traditional chain of command.
The rift became sharper after the Congress emerged as the single largest party in the civic body, winning 27 of the 66 seats, while the BJP secured 23. The fractured mandate has set the stage for tough negotiations to form the civic administration.
Wadettiwar also commented on the Supreme Court hearing scheduled for Wednesday on the OBC reservation, warning that the quota was in a fragile position.
“If OBC reservation is reduced or compromised, the blame will lie squarely with the BJP,” he said.
