Prashant Jagtap quits NCP (SP), joins Congress

Mumbai: Upset over the possible NCP and NCP (SP) alliance for the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) elections, veteran politician and former Pune Mayor Prashant Jagtap on Friday joined the Congress after quitting the Sharad Pawar-led faction.  

Jagtap, who was the Pune City NCP (SP) president, was offered entry not only by the Congress but also by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT).

The development also means that Congress seems to have rejected the offer of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP to join hands in PMC elections.

In Mumbai, Jagtap joined the 'grand old party' in the presence of Maharashtra Congress president Harshavardhan Sapkal, working president Naseem Khan and Congress legislature party leader Vijay Wadettiwar.

“The ideology of Shiv-Shahu-Phule-Ambedkar and the Congress party are two sides of the same coin. Political parties work according to their  ideology and the Congress party is fighting the ideological battle with loyalty and sincerity,” Sapkal said. 

"Some parties are only working to gain money from power and power through corrupt means and win elections with that money. The dance of throwing money and watching the spectacle is going on in full swing,” Sapkal said, hitting out at the Maha Yuti alliance comprising BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-headed NCP. 

Khan said that the country is in dire need of saving democracy and the Constitution.

“There are issues of farmers , women , unemployed , there are issues of law and order , but no one gets justice. The Congress party is fighting on this burning issue. Communalism and corruption are increasing in the state and the country. The BJP misled the people by telling lies. The BJP's policy is to destroy , at such a time only the Congress ideology can save the country,” he said.