Maharashtra Congress announces new 387-member jumbo committee

Five months after Harshwardhan Sapkal took over as the new state unit chief of the party, the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) has formed a new team of office-bearers, in which it has claimed to have incorporated "geographical and social balance".

The new body includes a 36-member political affairs committee, 16 senior vice presidents, 38 vice presidents, 5 senior spokespersons, 108 general secretaries, 95 secretaries and 87 executive committee members.

All India Congress Committee (AICC) Maharashtra in-charge Ramesh Chennithala is the chairman of the political affairs committee.

Dheeraj Deshmukh, former MLA and son of late chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, has been named a senior spokesperson for the first time.

Former chief ministers Sushilkumar Shinde and Prithviraj Chavan, Mumbai Congress chief and Lok Sabha member Varsha Gaikwad, Rajya Sabha members Rajni Patil and Imran Pratapgarhi, former state presidents Nana Patole and Manikrao Thakare are members of the political affairs committee.

Presidents of 13 district units of the party have also been named.

Addressing a press conference, Sapkal said, "Out of the newly appointed members of the state executive committee, 66 per cent are new faces, while 33 per cent are experienced leaders. The new team includes 41 per cent Other Backward Classes (OBCs), 19 per cent Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes and a significant number of women."

"We have tried to ensure both geographical and social balance in this selection," he said.