Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi is reportedly concerned over “favouritism” in the suggested list of candidates from the party for the upcoming assembly elections in Maharashtra, reported India Today quoting sources.
Rahul has been said to be upset with the screening committee’s choice of names submitted to the Congress Election Committee (CEC) and he raised the matter in the meeting held on Friday.
As per the report, the Congress leader highlighted that the list of candidates provided seemed to “favour” certain Congress leaders from the state.
He also questioned the allotment of Congress stronghold seats to Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena in regions like Vidarbha and Mumbai under the seat-sharing agreement.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi — constituting Sharad Pawar’s NCP, Uddhav’s Shiv Sena, and Congress — has agreed to an 85-85-85 seat-sharing formula for the upcoming elections to the 288-member Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
Reportedly, Rahul was also unhappy over the delay in finalising the seat-sharing agreement between MVA allies, according to ABP News sources. Congress leaders from the state failed to put across their points strongly, which resulted in the Congress bagging a lower number of seats than expected, Gandhi said at the Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting held at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi.
Congress and Shiv Sena have been at loggerheads over some seats in several regions within Mumbai and in the Vidarbha region, including Byculla, Versova, Nagpur South, Ramtek, and Dhamangaon Railway.
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Rahul Gandhi Failed In Leadership Role: NDA
The BJP-led NDA slammed Rahul Gandhi for his leadership over the reports saying he should revise the seat-sharing formula if he is not happy with it.
“If the Congress top leader (Rahul Gandhi) is unhappy with the party itself, what can be said about it? It seems he has failed in a leadership role. If he is unhappy with seat sharing, he should revise it,” said BJP leader RP Singh.
“It’s hard to witness the deteriorating state of the Congress,” remarked JDU spokesperson Neeraj Kumar. “Congress is a national party, but look at its condition. While this is an internal matter, the Congress should engage in self-reflection and strive to become self-reliant,” he added.
“There is not a single state in the country where elections happen without conflicts within their allied parties,” said RLD leader Malook Nagar.
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Everyone Needs To Be United: Sanjay Raut
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said that the opposition needs to come together in Maharashtra, referring to Congress’s poll debacle in Haryana.
“Three parties – Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and NCP (SP) are very strong in Maharashtra. All of them have almost the same number of seats. Rahul Gandhi knows very well about Maharashtra politics. Congress contested all seats in Haryana, but they could not form the government. So, everyone needs to be united,” Raut said.
