After Haryana loss, Rahul to review Congress's Maharashtra poll preparedness
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has called a meeting to review the party's preparedness for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly election. The move comes after the party's shocking defeat in Haryana, where it couldn't take advantage of a decade-long anti-incumbency against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The meeting will be held at 10:00am at the Congress headquarters in Delhi.
Key Congress leaders to attend meeting
The review meeting will be attended by key Maharashtra Congress leaders, including state unit chief Nana Patole and other party stalwarts such as Vijay Wadettiwar, Prithviraj Chavan, Balasaheb Thorat, Varsha Gaikwad and Ramesh Chennithala. Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge is also expected to be present at this meeting. This comes amid the backdrop of seat allocation negotiations among the ongoing Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance partners.
Congress's unexpected defeat in Haryana
In the Haryana Assembly elections, despite predictions of an outright win for Congress, the party managed to win only 37 of the 90 seats, with BJP emerging victorious on 48. The unexpected outcome has prompted introspection within party ranks about their election strategy. Former Haryana minister and party's Other Backward Classes (OBC) chairman Ajay Yadav blamed poor coordination between national and state leaderships for their defeat.
Internal criticisms likely to shape Congress's Maharashtra strategy
Senior Congress leader and Rohtak MLA Bharat Bhushan Batra blamed poor management and overconfidence of party leaders and workers for the loss. He also noted a major shift of SCs and OBCs toward the BJP in the last week of campaigning. These internal criticisms after their Haryana defeat are likely to shape discussions and strategies at Gandhi's review meeting on Maharashtra's poll preparedness, reports suggest.
