Mumbai/IBNS: Sixteen senior Maharashtra Congress leaders have written to party chief Mallikarjun Kharge demanding that its Mumbai unit chief Varsha Gaikwad be replaced to strengthen the party in the city ahead of the upcoming state poll.

The leaders complain that Gaikwad, who recently won the Mumbai North Central Lok Sabha seat, does not have the time to work at the organisational level. They have also objected to her style of functioning, NDTV reported.

Mumbai North Lok Sabha seat's Congress candidate Bhushan Patil has also claimed he received no help from the city party unit.

These leaders, in a letter dated June 16, have sought time from the Congress leadership to discuss the rejuvenation of the party in Mumbai ahead of the assembly elections, and the Mumbai civic polls which are overdue.

Signatories of the letter include Rajya Sabha MP and Congress Working Committee member Chandrakant Handore, former city party chiefs Janardhan Chandurkar and Bhai Jagtap, senior leaders Naseem Khan, Suresh Shetty, Madhu Chavan, Charansingh Sapra, Zakir Ahmed and Maharashtra Congress treasurer Amarjit Manhas.

A meeting related to Maharashtra is scheduled in Delhi on Tuesday.

In the 2019 Maharashtra assembly polls, the Congress won only 4 of the 36 seats in Mumbai.

During the recently-concluded Lok Sabha elections, the Congress secured 1 of the 2 seats it contested in the city.