Post-MNS win, AICC set to brainstorm
The AICC will take “corrective” steps keeping in mind the 2014 Lok Sabha and the Maharashtra Assembly polls, an indication in this regard was given by the party against the backdrop of the Maharashtra local body election results.
The Congress received a set-back in urban areas and lost its number one position in rural areas in the state.
The party is assessing whether its current team can face the coming political challenge in the state. This is because the Congress is fighting on four fronts — Shiv Sena, BJP, MNS and ally NCP — simultaneously in the fight for political space.
“The Raj Thackeray-led MNS has not only cut into the Shiv Sena’s votes but made a dent in the Congress and the NCP as seen in Mumbai, Pune and Nashik,” AICC insiders pointed out. The party had viewed the local body elections as the mini state Assembly polls mainly because municipal corporation and zila parishad members play a crucial role at the grassroots level in the state Assembly election.
If chief minister Prithviraj Chavan’s clean image did not convert into votes in these elections, Maharashtra ministers Narayan Rane and Chhagan Bhujbal too received a major set-back in Mumbai and Nashik.
A Maharashtra Congress official said. “Two Ks worked against us in Mumbai and Pune. It is Kripa Shankar Singh and Suresh Kalmadi.”
If Mumbai Congress chief Kripa Shankar Singh continued even after the organisational elections because of his networking skill, Mr Kalmadi is said to have managed the Congress tickets to his about 90 supporters in the Pune municipal corporation election.
The Congress, NCP, Shiv Sena and the BJP are reluctant partners in Maharashtra because they have been wanting to check each other in the fight for political space.
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