Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on Tuesday said that the 'Save Constitution' campaign by Rahul Gandhi and the party national president Mallikarjun Kharge helped the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) boost its tally in the Lok Sabha elections.
The MVA, which also includes the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SCP) and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), secured 30 out of the 48 seats in the state. Of this, Congress emerged as the single largest party, winning 13 of the 17 seats it contested.
"In the Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra, the effect of the Save Constitution campaign by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge was that the people of Maharashtra gave a big victory to the Maha Vikas Aghadi. A meeting has been held today regarding the victory and the upcoming elections in Maharashtra," Patole was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
The meeting, which took place in Delhi, was chaired by Kharge. Rahul Gandhi, KC Venugopal, AICC Maharashtra in-charge Ramesh Chennithala, state leaders Nana Patole, Vijay Wadettiwar, Prithviraj Chavan, Vishwajeet Kadam and others were also present.
Having got a big boost in the Lok Sabha elections, Congress leaders discussed the strategy for the upcoming assembly elections in the state. The tenure of the Maharashtra Assembly ends on November 26. The state Congress is also eyeing a big win in the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.
As the Congress eyes big wins in Maharashtra assembly elections, senior leaders of the Mumbai unit of the party want changes in the leadership structure. With the current Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad's elevation to the Lok Sabha, the leaders said in a letter that replacing Gaikwad would help in boosting the party's organisational strength ahead of the assembly and civic polls in the state.
They also objected to Gaikwad's style of functioning, while adding the present Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC) leadership is not taking leaders in Mumbai in confidence. The leaders said that they were not even being apprised about the regular programmes of the MRCC.