Chavan gets into damage control mode to clear files on priority basis to restore the confidence of voters.
The Congress party which has suffered the worst debacle in Maharashtra is trying to revive itself before the assembly election which is few months away. The Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee has gone into the introspection mode after the defeat and wants to undo the damage by implementing various policies which have been delayed due to lack of consensus between Congress and NCP. The Congress and NCP believe that negative campaigning against the NDA was responsible for its poor show in the recently concluded Lok Sabha election. The tussle between both the parties too has worked in favour of BJP-Sena which aims to replicate its success in the state in assembly election too.
Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan has asked his party workers to pull up their socks and work hard for the forthcoming assembly election. The ruling Congress-NCP alliance feels that BJP-Sena will have more advantage in the assembly election due to its impressive performance in the general election.
According to close sources in Congress, Chavan has been criticised in the past for his slow-paced style of functioning which has resulted into policy paralysis. Therefore Chavan will be clearing all the files on priority basis to kick-start those projects which have been delayed due to bureaucracy and red-tapism.
The new toll regime will replace the existing toll policy which has been severely criticised by the political parties and people. The state government will relook the Local Body Tax which had invited the ire of the trading community as they had protested against it. An alternative to the LBT too has been planned to woo the traders.
The party will focus on regularisation of slums in Pune and Dharavi and will also implement the clustered development scheme with an aim to lure slum dwellers who constitute a major chunk of the vote bank.
The government aims to provide reservations to the Maratha community and give a boost to the housing sector in Mumbai and proper disbursal of relief to farmers who incurred heavy losses during the hailstorms in February-March and tackling an impending drought in 2015 as the Met department has forecast a below average monsoon this year.
As the upcoming Budget session will be the last opportunity to lure voters before the assembly polls for the ruling party, so CM is likely to focus on major announcement.
A Congress party meeting too was held where the state party stalwarts were present including Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and various strategies for the assembly polls were being discussed.
MPCC Secretary Manikrao Thackeray in a meeting said, “We will work hard for the upcoming assembly polls. This time we will leave no stone unturned to make our campaign more effective. We will aim to improve our tally in the election.”
