After Haryana debacle, Congress leadership warns against any infighting in Maharashtra

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After the recent poll debacle in Haryana - blamed partially on factional fighting - the Congress is attempting to put its house in order and present a united face in both Maharashtra and Jharkhand where it seeks to win in alliance with its other Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc partners, news agency PTI reported.

The Congress leadership does not want to take chances and has issued a stern warning to all its state leaders not to speak anything in public either against their party colleagues or any of the allies ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly elections.

During an internal meeting, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi have told party leaders in Maharashtra to refrain from making any such public statements and warned of stern action in case of any violation.

The seat-sharing talks between the three alliance partners of the INDIA bloc - Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) - are on and sources said 80 per cent of the seats have been finalised, while deliberations are on for the remaining ones, reported PTI.

Sources said the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance partners are going on a seat-to-seat basis to choose a chief ministerial candidate from that wins the most number of seats.

However, the issue remains a sticky one. The Congress feels it has the right to the top post, considering it is the largest party in the opposition in the state assembly currently, and its leaders are dropping hints that they are in the race.

'Party upbeat by MVA's performance in Lok Sabha polls'

Despite the setback in Haryana Assembly polls, the party unit is upbeat in Maharashtra owing to MVA's performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, reported PTI.

The party on Tuesday appointed division-wise All India Congress Committee (AICC) senior observers for the Maharashtra Assembly polls with Ashok Gehlot and G Parameshwara to look after the Mumbai and Konkan region and Sachin Pilot and Uttam Kumar Reddy to oversee Marathwada. Bhupesh Baghel, Charanjit Singh Channi and Umang Singhar will look after the Vidarbha region (Amravati and Nagpur) and TS Singhdeo and M B Patil will take care of western Maharashtra. Syed Naseer Hussain and D Anasuya Seethakka have been appointed as senior observers for North Maharashtra, the party said.

Mukul Wasnik and Avinash Pande have been appointed as Maharashtra state election senior coordinators.

The Congress is also likely to announce its guarantees in Maharashtra to counter the BJP-led alliance.

MVA had won 31 out of 48 Lok Sabha seats in the 2024 general elections, while the Congress only won five out of 10 seats in Haryana. In the 2019 Assembly polls, the party had won 44 seats in Maharashtra, but seven MLAs have resigned from the party since then.

"We are upbeat by MVA's performance in the Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra and hope to win the state assembly this time. Our strike rate is much better and we will form our government," a senior Congress leader claimed.

Party is banking on support from JMM in Jharkhand

The Congress currently has 37 MLAs, Shiv Sena (UBT) 16 and NCP (SP) 12, besides two for Samajwadi Party (SP), one each for CPI-M and Peasants and Workers Party, in the Maharashtra assembly.

In Jharkhand, the party is banking on the support of its alliance partner Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) which romped home last time and is seeking to retain power.

The Congress will supplement the efforts of JMM and Chief Minister Hemant Soren, who hopes to cash in on public sympathy over his arrest and judicial custody in a corruption case.

As the Congress gets battle-ready for the next round of assembly polls, the opposition party also appointed three AICC senior observers for Jharkhand assembly elections -- Tariq Anwar, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu.

Soon after the announcement of assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand, Congress president Kharge targeted the BJP on inflation and alleged that in the last 10 and a half years, "Modiji has not helped in any let up of BJP's 'loot' even for 10 and a half seconds!".

"The politics of diversion will not work any longer. The public will vote on the basic issues," Kharge also said.

The Assembly polls in Maharashtra will be held in a single phase on November 20, while Jharkhand polls will be held in two phases on November 13 and 20, the Election Commission announced on Tuesday.

The votes for the two states will be counted on November 23.

"There are 9.63 crore eligible voters in Maharashtra, while the number of eligible voters in Jharkhand is 2.6 crore," Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said at a press conference.

(With PTI inputs)