Post LS polls, Congress conducts review meet

Mumbai: In light of the drubbing the Congress received in the Lok Sabha election, the party’s state unit is contemplating why it had performed so badly.

A former minister and senior Congress leader, who had attended a review meeting that was held in this regard, said that the reasons for the rout in the Lok Sabha poll were many and local leaders had stated that new and young voters were with Prime Minister Narendra Modi since the Congress did not reach out to them.

The party has even not tried to take any initiative to reach to them, he said.

He said, “For the Assembly election, the party will chalk out a plan to reach out to new voters between 18-22 years.”

In the past two days, the Congress has held a meeting with district wise leaders of north Maharashtra, Marathwada and Vidarbha. The party had reviewed its performance in the Lok Sabha elections and also sought suggestions over the preparations for the Vidhan Sabha polls for these regions.

The Congress leader, requesting anonymity, said that the party did not understand the power of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) — an alliance formed between Prakash Ambedkar, the leader of Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh and Assaddudin Owaisi's All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).

The Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi had contested all 48 seats, damaging the chances of the Congress and NCP in 10 seats where they polled over one lakh votes.

Sources said that the issue of groupism, especially in Nagpur in the Vidarbha region, was also discussed.

The Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is also a challenge in the Vidarbha region, a leader said. In the meeting, it was also decided the names of the candidates would be declared soon so that they would start working in the respective constituency.