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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Congress’ solo path for ‘ideological survival’

Mumbai: The Congress party’s decision to contest the forthcoming BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections independently is being viewed as an attempt to reclaim its ideological space among the public and restore credibility within its cadre, senior leaders indicated. The announcement - made by AICC General Secretary Ramesh Chennithala alongside state president Harshwardhan Sapkal and Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad - did not trigger a backlash from the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi...

Congress’ solo path for ‘ideological survival’

Mumbai: The Congress party’s decision to contest the forthcoming BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections independently is being viewed as an attempt to reclaim its ideological space among the public and restore credibility within its cadre, senior leaders indicated. The announcement - made by AICC General Secretary Ramesh Chennithala alongside state president Harshwardhan Sapkal and Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad - did not trigger a backlash from the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) partners, the Nationalist Congress Party (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT). According to Congress insiders, the move is the outcome of more than a year of intense internal consultations following the party’ dismal performance in the 2024 Assembly elections, belying huge expectations. A broad consensus reportedly emerged that the party should chart a “lone-wolf” course to safeguard the core ideals of Congress, turning140-years-old, next month. State and Mumbai-level Congress leaders, speaking off the record, said that although the party gained momentum in the 2019 Assembly and 2024 Lok Sabha elections, it was frequently constrained by alliance compulsions. Several MVA partners, they claimed, remained unyielding on larger ideological and political issues. “The Congress had to compromise repeatedly and soften its position, but endured it as part of ‘alliance dharma’. Others did not reciprocate in the same spirit. They made unilateral announcements and declared candidates or policies without consensus,” a senior state leader remarked. Avoid liabilities He added that some alliance-backed candidates later proved to be liabilities. Many either lost narrowly or, even after winning with the support of Congress workers, defected to Mahayuti constituents - the Bharatiya Janata Party, Shiv Sena, or the Nationalist Congress Party. “More than five dozen such desertions have taken place so far, which is unethical, backstabbing the voters and a waste of all our efforts,” he rued. A Mumbai office-bearer elaborated that in certain constituencies, Congress workers effectively propelled weak allied candidates through the campaign. “Our assessment is that post-split, some partners have alienated their grassroots base, especially in the mofussil regions. They increasingly rely on Congress workers. This is causing disillusionment among our cadre, who see deserving leaders being sidelined and organisational growth stagnating,” he said. Chennithala’s declaration on Saturday was unambiguous: “We will contest all 227 seats independently in the BMC polls. This is the demand of our leaders and workers - to go alone in the civic elections.” Gaikwad added that the Congress is a “cultured and respectable party” that cannot ally with just anyone—a subtle reference to the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), which had earlier targeted North Indians and other communities and is now bidding for an electoral arrangement with the SS(UBT). Both state and city leaders reiterated that barring the BMC elections - where the Congress will take the ‘ekla chalo’ route - the MVA alliance remains intact. This is despite the sharp criticism recently levelled at the Congress by senior SS(UBT) leader Ambadas Danve following the Bihar results. “We are confident that secular-minded voters will support the Congress' fight against the BJP-RSS in local body elections. We welcome backing from like-minded parties and hope to finalize understandings with some soon,” a state functionary hinted. Meanwhile, Chennithala’s firm stance has triggered speculation in political circles about whether the Congress’ informal ‘black-sheep' policy vis-a-vis certain parties will extend beyond the BMC polls.

Pre-poll thunderstorm rattles Fadnavis govt

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Mumbai: The united Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) Opposition parties managed a formidable show at a ‘Satya-cha Morcha’ protest march, with top leaders daring the election authorities on the alleged widespread discrepancies in voter-lists, ahead of the civic polls, on Saturday.

 

The massive march saw top MVA bigwigs like Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray, Raj Thackeray, Balasaheb Thorat, Jayant P. Patil walking shoulder-to-shoulder with party leaders, workers and the ordinary citizens, for the common aim of deferring the civic polls till the voter-lists are cleansed to ensure a transparent election process.

 

The Thackeray brothers adopted an aggressive stance, calling for identifying bogus voters, thrashing them right there and then handing them over to the police.

 

Raj contended that there are lakhs of duplicate voters who have been distorting the outcomes of the elections and they must be weeded out, citing statistical data of thousands of such suspect voters from different constituencies around the state.

 

“Everyone is saying there are lakhs of such fake voters in the state, even the BJP and Ajit Pawar’s NCP are saying this… Then why are the elections even being conducted? Why the hurry for polls? Get your voter lists cleaned first. Only after this transparency, we shall know who really stands with whom,” thundered Raj, targeting the election authorities.

 

Uddhav for vigilance

Vowing to fight the voter-lists anomalies in a democratic manner, Uddhav called upon the people to ‘remain vigilant’ and verify their names.

 

“There was an attempt to register a fake online application in my name which came to light in a failed OTP Oct. 23. Was there a wider conspiracy to delete the names of all my family members? We shall pursue it legally by submitting all evidence of fake, duplicate, bogus voters. We hope to get justice,” said Uddhav.

 

He also reeled off district-wide massive figures claiming them to be repeat, bogus, duplicate voters in multiple constituencies of Mumbai, Thane, Nashik, Pune, asking the masses to "wake up" or 'Anaconda' will come.

 

“Democracy is dying before our eyes… There must be strict action against these fraudsters. They are a threat to free and fair elections,” declared Uddhav, adding that he and Raj had joined hands for the people of Maharashtra and the cause of Marathis.

 

Pawar points injustice

The veteran politician lamented how thousands of citizens who have been voting for decades suddenly find their names missing from voter lists and asked who was responsible for this injustice.

 

“This is not just negligence. It's an attempt to silence the voice of the people. The voters are foundations of Democracy and if the base is tampered, then the democratic system will weaken. We are witnessing how the government machinery is being misused to benefit those in power and this is not a democracy envisioned by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, The Election Commission of India (ECI) must act without bias,” urged Pawar.

 

He made it clear that the MVA march was not for any single party, but all the Opposition parties uniting “for truth, justice and peoples’ right to vote” which no power in the world can take away and save democracy from threats.

 

Other prominent leaders who spoke-attended included: Supriya Sule, Dr. Jitendra Awhad, Jayant R. Patil, Balasaheb Thorat, M. Arif Naseem Khan, Sachin Sawant, Vijay Wadetriwar, Bhai Jagtap Satej Patil and other senior functionaries of the MVA alliance partners.

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