Miffed with Maharashtra Congress leaders’ inability to convince Dalit voters to choose the party in the Lok Sabha elections, Congress president Rahul Gandhi has reportedly asked the State party leadership to correct course at the earliest ahead of the Assembly polls.
A delegation of senior party leaders, including State Congress president Ashok Chavan, former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, legislative party leader Balasaheb Thorat and Chandrapur MP Bala Dhanorkar met Mr. Gandhi in Delhi on Saturday to discuss the party’s performance in Maharashtra in the general elections.
“He asked us why Dalit voters deserted the party and gave preference to Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi over the Congress. He asked us what course correction the party has done for the Assembly polls,” a senior party leader who attended the meeting told The Hindu .
The leader said Mr. Gandhi expressed his displeasure over the State committee’s functioning and the manner in which the election was handled in Maharashtra.
According to sources, former State president Manikrao Thakre and senior Congress leader Harshvardhan Patil will be given the responsibility to convince Mr. Ambedkar to join the opposition front to contest the Assembly polls. The meeting is likely to be held on July 3.
Sources also indicated that the State may see a change in party leadership, with Ashok Chavan being replaced by a younger, fresh face to take on the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena.
“The Assembly poll is more about local leadership and candidates’ personal touch in the constituency,” the leader said.
The names being discussed as replacement include former president of the party’s farmer wing Nana Patole from Vidarbha; Harshavardhan Patil from Indapur; former MP and the party’s Gujarat in-charge Rajiv Satav from Hingoli; and former State minister and the party’s Dalit face Nitin Raut from Nagpur.
