The Congress on Monday indicated that a new Maharashtra Congress chief could be announced “very soon”, even before the organisational elections.
The Congress on Monday indicated that a new Maharashtra Congress chief could be announced “very soon”, even before the organisational elections. Former chief minister Ashok Chavan, also a sitting Lok Sabha member, has emerged as a frontrunner for the post.
Recently, the AICC appointed PCC presidents for Assam and Orissa. Before that it made changes in the Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana PCCs. While Congress’ deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Amarinder Singh is mounting pressure on the high command to replace incumbent Pratap Singh Bajwa, Uttar Pradesh Congress leaders too are expecting a change.
As for Maharashtra, the Congress won merely two Lok Sabha seats and that too from the Marathawada region. Mr Chavan won from the Nanded seat while former Indian Youth Congress chief Rajeev Satav won from the Hingoli seat. In the Assembly elections, the Congress was pushed to third position with 42 seats, just one more than the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (41 seats).
Maharashtra remained the Congress-NCP’s stronghold, which ruled the state consecutively for 15 years since 1999. The party can revive itself if it plays its cards well.
This is because the Shiv Sena, sharing power with the BJP, has been uncomfortable for a number of reasons.
If the BJP is not shying away for bifurcation of Maharashtra, its strategy to emerge as number one in the BMC could be possible only by weakening the Shiv Sena.
A new PCC chief would have to ensure unity in the party and make it aggressive while become friendly with the NCP and other non-NDA parties. Interestingly, the BJP’s Maharashtra unit chief and Union minister Raosaheb Danve Patil also hails from the Marathawada region.
