Kalmadi splits PMC Cong to challenge Pawar

PUNE, January 6: Former Congressman Suresh Kalmadi today split the Congress in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) walking away with 55 corporators, 41 of them from the Congress, to float his own Pune Vikas Aghadi.

With this Kalmadi has literally taken on the challenge thrown by long-time ally Sharad Pawar. Within 24 hours of Pawar issuing an ultimatum to the Congress corporators going with Kalmadi to return to the party fold, the local leaders of the newly-formed Aghadi submitted a letter to the divisional commissioner Arun Bhatia here this afternoon informing him of the split.

Kalmadi, who preferred to remain incommunicado to the local media all the time he was in Pune after leaving the Congress on December 28, made no bones about his taking on Pawar. Uttar Milalena Aata “Now you got the answer,” he quipped when his attention was drawn to Pawar’s statement yesterday calling back the men threatening them with expulsion.The unexpected turn of events apparently took the Pawar camp by surprise. The Pawar supporters had begun to gather at Mayor Vandana Chavan’s office late evening to take stock of the situation.