Sachin Ahir re-elected Mumbai NCP president

Mumbai, Aug 3 (UNI) Nationalist Congress Party MLA Sachin Ahir has been re-elected as president of the party's Mumbai unit.

Former minister Nawab Malik will be the executive president along with Mr Ahir. This, however, is being viewed in NCP circles as Mr Ahir's wings being clipped.

But sources close to Sachin Ahir said Mr Malik's nomination as the executive president posed no threat to Mr Ahir. ''The new post has been created in view of the ensuing Mumbai civic elections and the party is keen on winning support from all communities in the metropolis,'' they argued.

Maharashtra unit NCP president Arun Gujarathi said that the post of executive president was the need of the hour. Both Malik and Ahir would jointly share the responsibility of running the city unit, he said, adding that the responsibilities of the duo would be defined within two to three days.

When asked about the delay in announcing the new president of Mumbai unit, Mr Gujarathi said, ''We have internal democracy and the announcement was delayed in order to evolve a consensus.'' Dr Ramesh Prabhoo, Vidya Chavan, Narendra Verma, and Vijay Kambli were the other candidates who had filed their nominations for the president's post.

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