Mumbai, Oct 8 (PTI) Congress leaders on Tuesday tried to put up a brave front dismissing talks of the Haryana poll outcome’s potential impact on the party’s prospects in Maharashtra elections, where a fierce contest is on the cards between the ruling and opposition alliances.
Senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan acknowledged that the people’s mandate in Haryana, where the BJP is set to return to power, was unexpected and infighting in Congress could be a contributory factor.
“The Haryana result will not impact Congress’s prospects in Maharashtra. The only thing is that we will have to work harder,” Chavan told PTI.
According to trends on the Election Commission’s website, the BJP was poised to form its government in Haryana with the party crossing the halfway mark and winning 48 out of 90 assembly seats in the elections.
In Jammu and Kashmir, the National Conference-Congress alliance swept the assembly polls, winning 48 out of 90 seats together. The BJP ended up winning 29 seats, securing the highest vote share of 25.6 per cent, and emerged as the second-largest party.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi, comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (SP), and Congress, will face off with the ruling alliance of Shiv Sena, BJP, and NCP, in the elections to the 288-member assembly, likely to be held next month.
“The MVA will unitedly defeat the Eknath Shinde-led government,” AICC in-charge of Maharashtra, Ramesh Chennithala, told reporters.
Chennithala and Chavan, however, expressed different opinions on the morale of the party workers.
While Chennithala asserted that Congress cadres were not crestfallen, Chavan separately said, “Even if the morale of workers is affected, everyone will start working hard after the Maharashtra poll schedule is announced next week”.
According to Chennithala, political scenarios in Maharashtra and Haryana are hugely different.
“People in Maharashtra are ready for a change and to bring in a new government. We will soon release our manifesto. Our morale is upbeat. The current regime (in Maharashtra) is not a people’s government but came into existence by defections,” he said.
He said workers and leaders of Congress are working unitedly on the ground.
Chavan, however, said infighting in the Haryana Congress could be one of the reasons for the party’s defeat at the hustings.
“We were expecting to win more than 50 seats and secure a majority in Haryana,” he said.
In Jammu and Kashmir, elections were held on directives of the Supreme Court, he said, adding that restoring the statehood will be the top priority of the new NC-Congress government.
I had been the AICC in-charge for Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir, I know both states well, Chavan added.
Stressing that the political landscape in the northern and western states are distinct, Chavan said Haryana was mainly a bipolar election between two parties (Congress and BJP) unlike Maharashtra where the contest lies between two alliances.
Chavan dismissed talks that the Haryana poll verdict would affect the Congress’ bargaining power (for seat-sharing with allies) in Maharashtra.
“Winnability will be the criterion for distribution of tickets,” he added.
Meanwhile, Chennithala said efforts are being made to clinch the seat-sharing deal at the earliest. PTI MR GK NSK
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.