Both the parties see the current political developments as positive to improve their performance in both the assembly and parliamentary elections scheduled next year.
The resounding victory of Congress party in three states of the Hindi heartland has boosted the morale of traditional allies Congress-NCP in the state. Both the parties see the current political developments as positive to improve their performance in both the assembly and parliamentary elections scheduled next year.
Maharashtra sends 48 Mps to Loksabha the second highest after Uttar Pradesh which sends 80 Mps. Hence, Maharashtra state is a crucial state for both the parties.
Maharashtra Congress president Ashok Chavan told DNA the three states victory has energised their party workers. "Now, our party workers and leaders are completely charged up to snatch the power from the BJP. Besides, we also intend to capitalise the the anger of the people on the ground during the elections," explained Chavan.
He said that the victory of Congress party in Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh will have an impact on the neighbouring regions like Vidharbha and Khandesh in North Maharashtra. "These regions have got cultural and social similarities with the neighboring regions. Besides, the farmer's anger is more palpable due to crash in the farm produce prices and failure of the loan waiver scheme. Therefore, we have got the bright chances not only improve our tally but to sweep in these regions in coming elections. Vidharbha is the Congress bastion for a long time while we lost it last time badly. Now, we are confident of bringing it back to the Congress fold once again,"
claimed Chavan.
Chavan said that as part of the Congress party's Jan Sangharsh Yatra, "We had travelled the 3/4 of Maharashtra. We have seen that demonetization has broken the backbone of the agriculture sector while the GST has destroyed the small-scale businesses. We never have seen such a deep agrarian crisis throughout the state. As a result, more numbers of farmers are committing suicides," Chavan said adding that the public sentiments are against the BJP-Shiv Sena.
Jayant Patil, NCP state president also said that the money power of BJP will not work in the general elections. "It is very easy to manipulate the local body elections because the ward or the constituency of this elections is quite small with the voter number of 2000-to-5000. While the assembly constituency has more than 3 lakh voters while in Lok Sabha, it is more than 10 lakh voters. In these polls, issues take precedence over money power. Therefore, despite pumping a huge amount of money, the BJP badly lost in all three Hindi heartland states," explained Patil.
He also said that they are reaching to all sections of the people by using various social platforms.
Chavan added that Maharashtra is a major debt-ridden state, with the total debt risen upto Rs 5.50 lakh crore. "The state financial condition is in trouble. The government has to raise the loan to pay the government employees payment. We are going very difficult phase. Once prosperous state now become turning into a Bimaru state like Bihar," Chavan pointed out.
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Ashok Chavan said that the three elections have shown that there is rural as well as urban anger among voters has catapulted Congress in power. He said in Maharashtra also, they will have a separate programme for the rural and urban regions.
The Congress and the NCP which was reluctant to use the social media earlier are not started using it effectively to connect with their party workers and voters. "Through this NCP connect App, we have 100% covered the 50% of state constituencies while the remaining will be connected by end of January 2019. This helps a direct communication line between the party workers and leaders," informed Patil.
The Maharashtra Congress has also used the Shakti App developed by the Congress party. Ashok Chavan said that they have also got a strong social media team in place. "They are working to counter the BJP's fake propaganda and spread the truthful information about our party and its work and activities." The three lakh party workers are registered through the Shakti App and more party workers will be registered soon.
Also Read: Survival of fittest: BJP to rejig strategy to continue winning streak in Maharashtra
Ashok Chavan said that the alliance talks with the NCP and the smaller parties have almost concluded. "NCP chief Sharad Pawar is very positive about the alliance. The agreement is done on 40 seats out of 48 of Lok Sabha seats. In the coming week, we are having more meetings where final decisions will be taken," he added.
The parties are organizing informal get together to galvanize their respective cadre and foster teamwork among them. Congress MLA Amit Deshmukh had recently called the dinner for the NCP, Congress and their alliance partners MLAs and leaders in Mumbai where they decided to have joined -- 'Man Milan' programmes exclusively for their party workers. Definitely the way to an ally's heart goes through his stomach and more so in an election year.
Bright Chances
- State Congress president Ashok Chavan said, the three-state-victory has energised their party workers
- The victory in MP, Chattisgarh is expected to impact neighbouring regions like Vidarbha and Khandesh
- Also, Cong is banking on the anger of farmers
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