Pushed to the brink, the local unit of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by newly appointed president-Arun Kadam is now making a concerted effort to regain lost ground in the twin-city. Hundreds of volunteers including former municipal corporator-Haresh Gawand and advocate- Edgar Breganza joined the party in the presence of senior NCP leader and housing minister- Jitendra Awhad, Anand Paranjpe and Asif Shaikh at an induction ceremony in Mira Road on Sunday. Reposing faith in the newly appointed office bearers, Awhad said, “ I am confident that our party will regain its lost glory under the able leadership of Arun Kadam.” The Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) polls are likely to be held later this year.
“NCP has a strong presence in the region and rules over the hearts of people. Our team will work dedicatedly at the grassroot level for the progress of the party and overall development of the twin-city, "said Kadam.
After retaining power over the MBMC for four consecutive terms, it has been a downhill slide for the NCP in the past couple of years. In what was seen as a final nail in the NCP’s coffin, the party which had 28 corporators in August-2012, was reduced to zero in the elections held for 95 seats in the MBMC in 2017. Former BJP legislator- Narendra Mehta tactfully engineered defections in the NCP and wrestled control over the civic body by his cunning electoral mathematics. Several former NCP heavyweights including- Ravi Vyas, Dhruvkishore Patil, Ashok Tiwari, Suresh Khandelwal had jumped into the BJP bandwagon on the eve of the MBMC elections in August-2017.
