Congress Decides to Contest Polls in Maharashtra as MVA

Mumbai: Maharashtra Congress on Thursday said that they have decided to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha election as an MVA (Maha Vikas Aghadi). The party leaders will work in six divisions of the state, interact with workers and hold meetings.

District level, block level and panchayat level meetings will be held in the coming days, a party official said. The decision was taken in an extended executive meeting in connection with the preparation for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The meeting was held in the presence of All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge of Maharashtra Congress, Ramesh Chennithala.

After concluding the meeting, Mr Chennithala said that there is a huge outcry against the BJP government which has destroyed the unity and integrity of the country in the last ten years.

Slamming the BJP led central government, the AICC incharge of Maharashtra Congress said that the central agencies including ED, CBI are being misused to intimidate the opposition parties but his party has not wavered in the backdrop of the BJP’s suppression. “Maharashtra is a state of Congress ideology. If we work unitedly, the party will come back to power in the state and the country,” he said.

A senior leader, who has attended the executive meeting, said that Mr. Chennithala has instructed the party leaders to swing into action in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha election. However, he did not discuss any strategic points with Maharashtra leaders to counter the BJP.  

Mr. Chennithala also said that the Congress party is gearing up for the Lok Sabha elections with all its might. “Review meetings will be held in six divisions of the state, after which meetings will be held at the district level and block level to review the preparation of the party organization,” he said.

The Congress leader also claimed that there has also been a positive discussion on the allocation of seats in Maharashtra with the alliance partners Shiv Sena UBT and the Sharad Pawar faction of NCP. He also contended that in the last general election in 2019,  the BJP's vote share was 30 per cent, which means 70 per cent of the voters were against it.

“This is a battle against the ideology of BJP and RSS. The BJP is destroying the history, tradition, democracy, constitution and all systems of the country. Our aim is to dethrone  the BJP government. It would be done by winning maximum seats of Lok Sabha from Maharashtra,” Mr. Chennithala said.

In a response to a query regarding the inauguration of the Ram temple, Mr Chennithala said that it is wrong to perform Prana Pratishtha in a partially constructed temple. “All the four Shankaracharyas have said the same, they too will not go to this event. Congress is invited but this program is for political gain and it is not appropriate to perform the rituals in a partially constructed temple,” he said.

Informing about Bharat Jodo Nyaya Yatra in Maharashtra, Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole said it will go on for five days, pass through six districts in Maharashtra covering 479 km and will culminate in Mumbai.