Kharge gets charge of Maharashtra Congress

Mumbai: The Maharashtra Congress on Friday saw major changes with party president Rahul Gandhi appointing Mallikarjun Kharge as the incharge of the state unit. Mr Kharge will replace Mohan Prakash, a socialist face within the Congress. The demand that Mr Prakash be replaced was put forth by many Congress leaders, including retired leader Gurudas Kamat.

Mr Kharge will be assisted by Sonal Patel, Ashish Dua and Sampat Kumar, all second-rank leaders of the All India Congress Committee (AICC). Ahead of the general elections in 2019, the AICC has initiated many changes. As part of the same, Mr Gandhi has appointed Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, Mr Kharge, as in-charge of the Maharashtra unit. After Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra is the second largest state with 48 seats in the Lok Sabha. Mr Kharge faces the uphill task of preparing the Maharashtra Congress for the elections.

Meanwhile, Mr Kamat had publicly held Mr Prakash responsible for the party’s poor performance in the BMC elections. Even leaders from Vidarbha had approached Mr Gandhi against Mr Prakash. Hence, his replacement was long due in the state Congress.

Mr Kharge comes from the Kalburgi (previously known as Gulbarga) district of the neighbouring Karnataka state. He has been in touch with Maharashtra leaders, particularly leaders from Marathwada, for quite a long time. Maharashtra Congress chief Ashok Chavan also comes from the Marathwada region.

The Maharashtra Congress had reached its lowest tally (43) in the 2014 elections. Before that, it got only two seats in the Lok Sabha, which has also been among its lowest. Since then, the party has not won any major election apart from the Nanded municipality election.