In a first, 2 transgenders named Maha Cong secretaries

Mumbai, Aug 27 (IANS) In an effort to boost the aspirations of the marginalised communities, the Congress for the first time has appointed two transgenders as Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) Secretaries, top party officials said here on Friday.

The announcement came in a jumbo list of 190 office-bearers, including around 17 women, for the MPCC released by the Congress late on Thursday.

Two transgenders -- Parvathi Parasuram Jogi and Salma Umarkhan Sakarkar -- were the unexpected entrants as MPCC Secretaries in the list.

Besides, the state Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said that the party has named 18 vice presidents, 65 general secretaries and 104 secretaries.

Now, the MPCC has given representation to the people from 48 different communities including transgenders and is considerably 'younger' with an average age of 52 in which the oldest is over 70 years and the youngest being just 30 years old.

Among the major highlights are the appointment of Pradnya Satav, the widow of the late General Secretary Rajeev S. Satav -- who died due to Covid-19 complications in May -- as the MPCC vice president.

A close aide of the former central minister, the late Gurudas Kamat and the present Mumbai Congress Treasurer Amarjit Singh Manhas has now been elevated as the MPCC Treasurer.

MLA Dhiraj V. Deshmukh -- the third son of the late CM and Union Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh -- is now an MPCC general secretary. His other siblings are Amit Deshmukh who is a state cabinet minister and Riteish Deshmukh who is a well-known Bollywood actor and director.

MPCC President Nana Patole held a meeting of all party candidates who were defeated in the 2019 Assembly polls by very low margins, shocking many leaders.

This has drastically brought down the party's victory tally, pushing it to the fourth position after the Bharatiya Janata Party, Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party.

Around 15 party contenders had lost the polls with slender vote differences -- mainly due to infighting and local rivalries -- but now all must work hard to ensure victory in the 2019 Assembly elections, he added.

The new MPCC list with an army of office-bearers is expected to get to