Eye on 2024 polls, Congress to hold foot march, bus rallies in Maharashtra

Congress seems to have started getting into election mode for the upcoming General Elections scheduled for next year, and has begun preparations for the same, especially in Maharashtra following the split in the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

Senior leaders of the Maharashtra Congress on Tuesday met the party's national leadership here in New Delhi and discussed strategies to strengthen the party's roots in the state.

Congress national president, Mallikarjun Kharge, and former party president Rahul Gandhi were present during the meeting which took place at the AICC headquarters.

During the meeting, they held discussions with the leaders of the Maharashtra Congress and took stock of the prevailing political situation, chalking out a three-point strategy to strengthen its base in Maharashtra ahead of the 2024 Loksabha elections and assembly polls in the state.

 

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Congress general secretary, KC Venugopal, said that three major decisions were taken in the meeting.

"All the senior leaders of the party will take responsibility for their Parliamentary constituencies. Secondly, from the month of September a 'padayatra' (foot march) will be carried out in every district of the state under a senior leader, which will be followed by a "bus yatra" in the month of December when all the leaders will jointly visit all the constituencies together," Venugopal said.

"The meeting was quite fruitful and lasted for four hours and all the leaders have a unanimous belief that the Congress will sweep the parliamentary elections in Maharashtra. During the meeting Rahul Gandhi specially referred to the Maharashtra leg of his Bharat Jodo Yatra where he got a phenomenal response, which was among the best in the country," he said further.

Venugopal also said that the Congress will fight the elections in alliance with 'Maha Vikas Aghadi' and seat sharing agreement will be worked out after meeting and discussion with the alliance partners.

Further Venugopal asserted that gauging the mood of the people in Maharashtra, it was sure that people wanted to defeat the BJP, as they had understood its politics of dividing opposition parties and using the ED and money. He said this was going to have a very negative impact on the BJP.

To another question on the Supreme Court holding the extension to ED Director as illegal, he said, "The Congress stand is vindicated as the party had said it from day one that extension to the ED Director was illegal." He described the decision as a "clear slap on the government's face."

About the Congress, being the largest opposition party, staking claim for the Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra assembly, he said, the decision will be taken ahead of the assembly session.