Congress holds a meet of the party’s Central Election Committee with leaders from Maharashtra in New Delhi; party State chief says Sharad Pawar and Uddhav will hold more discussions
Discussions within the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi continue as the Congress State chief, Nana Patole, said in New Delhi on Monday that talks on 96 seats had been completed and Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray would hold further discussions.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, along with Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and party leaders Rahul Gandhi and K.C. Venugopal, held a meeting of the party’s Central Election Committee with leaders from Maharashtra in the national capital to finalise candidates for the upcoming polls.
Mr. Patole expressed confidence in the alliance, rejecting rumours of disagreements and accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of deliberately spreading misinformation.
“There are no disputes between Congress and Shiv Sena. The BJP is trying to create misunderstanding because they fear losing the Assembly election,” Mr. Patole said. He attacked the BJP’s stance on Hindutva, calling it “fake”, and accused the party of using Hindu identity for political gain.
The BJP, he said, engages in double-dealing, citing the renaming of Aurangabad to Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar while still listing it as Aurangabad in official documents.
“This is BJP’s politics of convenience,” Mr. Patole said, while reiterating the Congress’s commitment to secularism.
The Election Commission has scheduled voting in Maharashtra for November 20, with results to be declared on November 23, just a day before the current Assembly’s term expires.
Mr. Kharge accused the BJP of being the “biggest enemy” of Maharashtra’s farmers, asserting that the only way farmers would benefit was by removing the “double engine” government from power. This remark comes as the Maha Vikas Aghadi is ramping up its campaign to challenge the ruling Mahayuti alliance led by the BJP.
In a post on X, Mr. Kharge criticised the BJP’s handling of the State’s agricultural sector, highlighting the rising number of farmer suicides and accusing the party of making hollow promises. He referred to the BJP’s pledge to make Maharashtra drought-free as “jumla” (empty rhetoric).
‘False promise’
“Twenty thousand farmers have committed suicide. There has been a huge cut in agricultural funding, and the ₹20,000 crore water grid promise was false,” he said. The Congress president
condemned the government’s refusal to compensate farmers, while insurance companies had benefited by ₹8,000 crore.
He further criticised the export bans and high duties on onion and soya bean farmers, alongside the declining production of cotton and sugar cane, claiming the BJP’s policies had worsened the situation for farmers.
The Congress president called for a “maha parivartan” (major change), arguing that Maharashtra’s farmers would only prosper if the BJP was ousted.
He also highlighted the crisis facing Maharashtra’s milk cooperatives, a situation even the government acknowledges.