Mumbai: Congress to launch Maharashtra assembly poll campaign today; Uddhav Thackery, Sharad Pawar to join Rahul Gandhi
Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar will join Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as the Congress is set to launch its campaign for the Maharashtra assembly polls in Mumbai on Tuesday, August 20.
The Congress rally, marking the birth anniversary of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, will also be attended by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and AICC in-charge for Maharashtra, Ramesh Chennithala.
Uddhav Thackeray and Pawar are expected to share a stage with Rahul Gandhi in Mumbai as the alliance gears up for the assembly election in Maharashtra, and the MVA continues to mull over a chief minister face for the upcoming elections.
The MVA constituents- the Congress, NCP (SP), and Shiv Sena (UBT)- had declared to contest the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections together. Deliberations for the sharing of seats are yet to gather momentum.
The Congress has announced a meeting at 3pm at the Shanmukanand Auditorium in Mumbai, followed by a rally in the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC). The Congress has planned several programmes in Mumbai, the birthplace of Rajiv Gandhi, to mark his birth anniversary.
MVA allies attended a meeting on Friday in which Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray demanded the alliance declare its Chief Ministerial face in advance. The Shiv Sena (UBT) chief said the CM face should be picked out without waiting for the scorecard of each constituent in the assembly elections.
The MVA trounced the Mahayuti alliance in Lok Sabha elections by bagging 30 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, with the BJP losing 14 constituencies of the 23 it had won in 2019.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on August 16 announced the dates for the Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana assembly elections, leaving out Maharashtra from the poll date announcement. The Election Commission of India (ECI) said that the elections in Maharashtra, due in October-November, stand delayed due to the monsoon season.
“Last time, Maharashtra and Haryana assembly elections were held together. At that time, J&K was not a factor…The other factor is that there was heavy rainfall in Maharashtra and there are several festivals lined up too,” CEC Rajiv Kumar said during the press conference.