NEW DELHI/MUMBAI : Still reeling from the shock defeat in the Haryana assembly elections, the Congress on Tuesday appointed several senior leaders, including Ashok Gehlot, Sachin Pilot and Bhupesh Baghel, as observers for the upcoming Maharashtra polls. The move is seen as a recalibration of its strategy for the crucial Maharashtra battle.
According to a party release, senior leaders—Mukul Wasnik and Avinash Pande—have been appointed as state election senior coordinators, while former Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara have been named senior observers for Mumbai and Konkan division.
Former Chhatisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, former Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi and Madhya Pradesh leader Umang Singhar have been deputed to the cotton belt of Vidarbha, the region once considered as the Congress stronghold.
Rajasthan leader Sachin Pilot and Telangana Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy have been appointed as senior observers for Marathwada, while former Chattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister TS Singhdeo and Karnataka Minister MB Patil have been tasked to take care of Western Maharashtra.
Rajya Sabha MP Syed Naseer Hussain and Telangana Minister D Anasuya Seethakka will handle North Maharashtra.
Vidarbha region is important for the grand old party as it elects 64 MLAs to the Maharashtra assembly. The BJP has managed to expand its footprints in the region in the last 10 years.
However, the Congress staged a comeback in Vidarbha winning majority of Lok Sabha seats except Nagpur and Akola. Sources said that the party fielded two former chief ministers as observers to assess the ground situation and carry out corrective measures.
“What we learnt from the Haryana election is that the state leaders were overconfident about pulling off a victory and became complacent. Unlike the BJP, they failed in micro-management, which led to the defeat. We do not want to take any risk in Maharashtra. This is a crucial one and the momentum is clearly in our favour. We don’t want to commit any more mistake and lose a big state,” said a Congress leader, requesting anonymity.
In an interview with this newspaper, AICC Maharashtra in-charge Ramesh Chennithala said that the Congress would take utmost caution in choosing candidates.
Another leader said that the Congress would be contesting in 110-120 constituencies as part of the seat-sharing arrangement in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance.
“So it’s our responsibility to win 70-80 seats and lay down a solid foundation for the MVA to form the government. We are happy that our traditional vote bank—Dalit, Muslim and tribal —has come back to our fold. This will help us in a big way,” the leader said.
