Mumbai, Feb 4 (NationPress) Amid ongoing disputes among two factions within the Congress party, the central leadership has stepped in to foster agreement regarding the appointment of the party's mayor in the Chandrapur Municipal Corporation in Maharashtra.

Following directives from the party's central leadership, Pratibha Dhanorkar, the Congress MP for Chandrapur, will have the decisive say in the selection of the mayor. Meanwhile, the deputy mayor’s role will be allocated to the group of corporators led by Vijay Wadettiwar, the leader of the Congress legislative party. The chairperson position of the standing committee will be awarded to the faction that aids the party in reaching a majority.

Post-meeting, sources from Congress confirmed the resolution has been reached. “It has been concluded that the mayoral position in Chandrapur will be granted to the Dhanorkar faction, while the Deputy Mayor role will be assigned to the Wadettiwar faction. Additionally, the House Leader position in the Municipal Corporation has been allocated to the Wadettiwar group. The Chairperson of the Standing Committee will be given to the party that lends support to Congress,” stated a senior party official.

In the 66-member Chandrapur Municipal Corporation, Congress has emerged as the single largest party, securing 27 seats, and has the backing of three members from its ally, the Bharatiya Shetkari Kamgar Paksh (BSKP). However, Congress still needs four more corporators to achieve a majority. Currently, Thackeray’s Shiv Sena occupies six seats, while the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi holds two. Consequently, the task of rallying the remaining four corporators falls to Pratibha Dhanorkar.

For the past fortnight, factions led by Dhanorkar and Wadettiwar have clashed over the mayoral position, leading the Dhanorkar group to register independently. Maharashtra Congress chief Harshvardhan Sapkal has conducted four meetings with both leaders to establish a consensus. Despite these efforts, internal strife persisted, necessitating intervention from the central leadership.

On Tuesday, Wadettiwar and his faction traveled to Delhi for discussions with K.C. Venugopal, the General Secretary (Org). They were accompanied by state Congress observer and former MLA Sunil Kedar.

Kedar subsequently met with Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant, after which Sawant declared the party's intention to support Congress in Chandrapur. “There is no question of backing anyone else. The Congress and we will unite in Chandrapur and Parbhani,” Sawant remarked.