Congress Names Prashant Jagtap and Deepti Chaudhari as Pune City Presidents in Major Organisational Overhaul

Pune, 21st May 2026: In a major organisational reshuffle days after the municipal elections, the Congress party has appointed two separate city unit chiefs for Pune, with former NCP (SP) leader Prashant Jagtap being named president for East Pune and Deepti Chaudhari taking charge of West Pune.

The decision comes as the Congress attempts to strengthen its organisational structure in Pune ahead of the upcoming local body elections. The party leadership has decided to divide the city unit into eastern and western zones and appoint separate presidents for each region.

The appointment of Prashant Jagtap has attracted significant political attention as he had joined the Congress only a few months before the civic elections, after leaving the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party faction. Despite being a recent entrant, he has now been entrusted with a key organisational role in the city unit.

Jagtap has previously served as corporator, mayor and city president during his tenure in the NCP. Political observers believe the Congress leadership considered his aggressive political style and organisational experience while assigning him the responsibility.

Meanwhile, Deepti Chaudhari has been appointed president for the western part of Pune city.

The appointments, however, have also triggered discussions over possible internal discontent within the Congress. Several senior party leaders and long-time aspirants for the city chief’s post are believed to have been sidelined, leading to murmurs of dissatisfaction among sections of party workers.