India, May 22 -- The Congress party has, for the first time, appointed two separate city unit presidents for Pune by dividing the city into eastern and western regions.

Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal late on Wednesday announced the appointment of former mayor Prashant Jagtap as president of the party's east Pune unit, and former mayor and MLC Deepti Chawadary as president of the west Pune unit.

The move is being seen as an attempt by the Congress to strengthen its organisational structure in Pune, where the party has struggled with factionalism and weak grassroots' coordination over the past several years.

Until now, former corporator Arvind Shinde had been functioning as the city unit president. However, party lead...