The Congress on Friday appointed Eknath Gaikwad the working president of the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee over two weeks after former city unit chief Milind Deora resigned from his post.

Gaikwad is a three-time MLA from Dharavi in Mumbai and has served as the general secretary of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee between 1990 and 1991. He was also appointed as the general secretary of the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee and served between 1997 and 2003. He served two terms as a Lok Sabha MP.

The Congress leader was also a minister in the Maharashtra government between 1993 and 1995 and then again between 1999 and 2004. The Congress party’s announcement stated that the Congress president had approved the appointment proposal. Although Rahul Gandhi has stepped down from his post as president, citing the party’s poor performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress Working Committee has not accepted it yet, according to PTI.

Gaikwad’s appointment comes after Deora resigned, saying that he wanted a role in the party’s central leadership. The former Mumbai Congress chief had also recommended setting up a three-member panel to oversee the party unit in the city till the Maharashtra Assembly elections, which will be held later this year.