New Delhi: The Congress on Monday said that the exit of senior leader Milind Deora would have minimal electoral impact on either grand old party or the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which will fight the coming Lok Sabha seats together.
"(Milind) Deora’s leaving will have minimal effect on either the Congress or the Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra. He took that decision after making his political profit and loss calculations,” All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary in charge of Maharashtra Ashish Dua told ETV Bharat.
According to Congress insiders, Deora had been losing the Mumbai South parliamentary seat to Shiv Sena UBT’s Arvind Sawant for two terms and had no claim on it in 2024. Also, the Congress did not have sufficient numbers in the Maharashtra Assembly to get him a Rajya Sabha berth, the insiders said.
The party insiders further said that Deora's discontent had been known to the high command over the past months and therefore he was made a joint AICC treasurer recently by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge. The AICC functionary noted that Deora's exit was getting projected as a big loss to the Congress in public discourse but the former BSP MP Danish Ali joining Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yyay Yatra in Manipur on January 14 was not being appreciated.
According to Congress insiders, the MVA was working closely together and had a broad understanding on fighting the coming Lok Sabha polls together.
AICC general secretary in-charge Ramesh Chennithala has said that Maharashtra would be the first state where seat-sharing would be announced by the INDIA alliance. "Though seat-sharing talks are not final, a formula would be announced soon," said Dua.
According to the AICC functionary, the MVA had already started preparing for the coming Lok Sabha polls and will soon deploy coordination panels on all the 48 parliamentary seats in Maharashtra to ensure better coordination among the local leaders and ensure conversion of votes.
"The three parties (Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) are contesting the polls together for the first time. The leaders are familiar with each other but the workers must also be on the same page. These seat-wise coordination panels will have leaders from all three parties and will work for the success of the alliance," added Dua.
"These panels will also be in touch with the local community leaders to mobilise support," he said. While the Congress is ensuring the alliance works smoothly, the grand old party is also focusing on strengthening the party organisation.
"The new general secretary in charge conducted a review of the Lok Sabha polls on January 11 and 12 along with the senior state leaders and he will now travel across the state to hold division wise organisation review meetings," said Dua.
As per estimates, the Congress has around 19 per cent vote share in Maharashtra but both the allies Shiv Sena UBT and NCP have lost part of their vote shares due to the splits they suffered over the past years. "The Congress must strengthen itself to help out the alliance partners in the state. Hence, we are doing our bit and also cooperating with the allies wherever possible," Dua concluded.
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