New Delhi: The Congress leaders said on Monday they had been able to control Maharashtra rebels to a large extent on the last day of withdrawal of nominations, two days ahead of the launch of a joint opposition manifesto by top Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders.
Congress managers encountered rebel challenges on approximately nine of the 102 seats they are contesting in the alliance, out of a total of 288. This development comes just two days before former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, former chief minister and Shiv Sena UBT leader Uddhav Thackeray, and NCP-SP chief Sharad Pawar are set to unveil the MVA joint manifesto in Mumbai on November 6.
“The rebels have been controlled to a large extent barring one or two cases. It is always difficult to convince everyone, but we can say that the situation is under control. The Congress is in a good position to fight the elections. But this will bring no respite for us as the real challenge begins now,” AICC in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Avinash Pande told ETV Bharat.
He is one of the several AICC observers deployed by the Congress to manage the crucial Maharashtra elections besides ex-CMs Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel, CWC member Sachin pilot, Telangana Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy and Karnataka M G Parmeshwara.
The presence of rebels in Maharashtra had revived the fears of the recent Assembly polls in Haryana where a similar problem caused a lot of damage to the Congress. On November 2, former minister Anees Ahmed rejoined the Congress after he narrowly missed the October 29 nomination deadline by two minutes. Ahmed was to contest as an Independent.
The next focus will be on joint strategies, along with the allies, said Congress leaders. “The MVA leaders will unveil the joint manifesto on November 6 and present its focus on pro-people governance. The joint campaign will follow that,” said Pande.
According to party insiders, the MVA will focus majorly on the plight of the farmers in the state as a large number of food growers have taken their lives due to financial issues over the past years.
“The Central government’s recent order allowing cotton imports is good for the traders, but against the farmers. We will oppose the move,” Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole said.
Separately, former CM Uddhav Thackeray and NCP-SP chief Sharad Pawar will also address several rallies across the state to push the alliance. Pawar will address rallies in areas like Nagpur, Tiroda, Karol, Hinganghat, Jintur and Basmath while Thackeray will address rallies in Ratnagiri, Rajapur, Bhiwandi, Dayapur, Badnera, Buldhana, Melkar and Patur over the next few days.
“This will be a time for these leaders to prove their voter connections as the BJP had broken them by buying their MLAs. But, the people still support them,” said Pande.
The Congress managers are taking small steps wherever needed. Keeping in mind the 22 lakh crucial gardener community votes in the state, the Congress on Monday named Kishore Kanhere, who had come from Shiv Sena recently as state vice-president.
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