New Delhi: Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday asked the Maharashtra leaders to launch an aggressive campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from July 12 saying there was a huge scope for the party in the western state.
“Rahul Gandhi said there is a huge opportunity for the Congress to regroup in the state. He has asked the state leaders to launch an aggressive campaign from tomorrow,” AICC in charge of Maharashtra HK Patil told ETV Bharat. Rahul, party chief Mallikarjun Kharge reviewed the recent political developments in the state and discussed the party’s campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as well as the assembly elections that will take place later next year.
Accordingly, Rahul has asked the party managers to give charge of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra to senior leaders. "Rahul wants us to go to the villages across the state in a big way. He recalled that the Maharashtra leg of his Bharat Jodo Yatra last year was the best one and has asked the senior state leaders to launch massive padyatras in each district in September. In November, he has asked us to conduct joint padyatras in which all senior leaders will participate,” said Patil.
According to the party insiders, while Rahul senses a huge opportunity for the Congress in Maharashtra and wants the state leaders to go all out to revive the organization, the former party chief also said that the Congress will fully back the NCP chief Sharad Pawar who has been hit by a coup led by his nephew Ajit Pawar.
“The MVA will sweep the Lok Sabha polls in the state. The people are seeing what the BJP has done to break the NCP and how they grabbed power through the backdoor by splitting the Shiv Sena last year. There is a huge anger among the people over this and they are going to teach a lesson to the BJP in the coming polls,” said Patil.
According to the AICC in charge, the priority for the party is to regain strength and take on the BJP jointly with the allies. “The seat-sharing will be discussed later. The time now is to go to the people and strengthen the Congress,” he said. Rahul and Kharge discussed the Maharashtra situation and poll prospects with the state leaders for around four hours during which the party chief charged the BJP had hurt the local pride by first toppling an elected MVA government last year and was now targeting the NCP to weaken opposition unity.
“Rahul said that the Congress will raise the people’s issues and will ensure that the anti-people BJP-Sena government is defeated next year,” said Patil. Both Rahul and Kharge asked the state leaders to be united and fight the coming parliamentary and assembly polls together.
“The Congress has deep roots in the state and after the assembly elections, we will emerge as the largest party in the state. If the Congress is strong in all Lok Sabha seats, our allies will benefit from that. Over the coming weeks, the organization will be strengthened at the village and block levels. We will expose both the central and the state governments. They have neglected the issues like jobs for youth, and the plight of the farmers. We will expose the BJP’s attempts to dent elected governments through corrupt means,” said Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole.
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