On Thursday, Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar will speak to members of the party’s Pune unit at Congress Bhavan as part of the 17th Seva-Kartavya-Tyag week’s valedictory celebration. Nana Patole, the state Congress president, will be in attendance, as will revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat and another Maharashtra minister, Amit Deshmukh.

“The city unit of Congress is preparing for the forthcoming elections to the Pune Municipal Corporation. A lot of functions are being organized to encourage party workers ahead of the civic polls. There will be a rally at Congress Bhavan on December 9, and firebrand leader Kanhaiya Kumar will address workers,” said senior Congress leader Mohan Joshi.

Joshi went on to say that Congress has yet to make a decision on forming a pre-election coalition for the municipal polls. “The city unit will hold discussions with local leaders and provide inputs to state leaders to take a decision on pre-poll alliances. We will accept and abide by the decision taken by the local leaders,” he said.

According to party leaders, Kanhaiya Kumar would speak on the topic “Save Democracy, Save Country.”

The Congress, which dominated PMC from 1997 to 2007, now has only nine members in the civic body and is working hard to reclaim lost ground.