Instead of protesting on the streets over demonetisation the leadership should resolve internal conflict and united to tackle the issue says Rane.
Senior Congress leader Narayan Rane launched a scathing attack against the Congress leadership for sidelining dedicated party workers and instead issuing tickets to those candidates closer to senior leaders. Rane was upset with the Congress party leaders for their inability to gain people’s confidence after the flawed demonetisation drive announced by the Modi government. The BJP has won maximum seats in the election to 147 municipal and 17 nagar panchayats across 25 districts in Maharashtra. The saffron party had taken a comfortable lead with 52 seats. Its ally Shiv Sena and main rival Congress were at 23 and 21 and the NCP of Sharad Pawar was in the fourth place with 19 seats.
Rane said that the Congress party had failed to cash in on the demonetisation campaign and should have explained about its ill-effects to citizens. He said, “As long as the Congress leadership continue to sideline meritorious candidates it won’t be able to grow. Senior leaders were not serious while campaigning for polls and there was rift within the party which had affected its performance in the polls.”
Rane made an indirect reference to Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee President Ashok Chavan. He also attacked the party leadership for its failure to highlight the Maratha reservation issue amicably.
“The Congress will have to fine-tune its strategy and will have to revive itself. Instead of protesting on the streets over demonetisation issue the leadership should resolve internal conflicts. The Congress party will have to become more aggressive to give a tough fight to the BJP,” added Rane.
Rane also wanted the Congress and NCP to come together for regaining power in the state. He said, “Both Congress and NCP should have pre-poll alliance and resolve the seat sharing issue. Today no party is in an position to win clear mandate.”
Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil Leader of opposition in the state legislative assembly said, “We are not satisfied with the results of the election and our party could have fared better. Even though the BJP had received flak for demonetisation drive but its performance remained unaffected. However we have managed to give tough competition to them in various constituencies. The saffron party is more interested in publicity stunt and high profile poll campaign as no results are visible on the ground.”
When asked about the internal rift prevalent within the Congress party he said, “There might be some difference of opinion among leaders but we resolve all issues amicably. All of us are working towards a common goal of strengthening the party before the assembly polls.”
