MUMBAI: The Congress has decided to rope in its national leaders and chief ministers in the election campaign for the Maharashtra Assembly. Hi Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi will visit Maharashtra separately for three days between November 12 and 17. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge will be camping in Maharashtra for three days from November 16 till the campaign ends on November 18. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy will also hold rallies across the state to campaign for Congress and Maha Vikas Aghadi candidates.
A Congress campaign committee meeting was held on Thursday at its state headquarter ‘Tilak Bhavan’. The meeting was chaired by campaign committee head and Rajya Sabha MP Chandrakant Handore.
Speaking after the meeting, All India Congress Committee in-charge for Maharashtra Ramesh Chennithala confirmed that Mr. Kharge will tour Maharashtra for five days, with rallies scheduled on November 13, 14, 16, 17, and 18. “Rahul Gandhi will hold campaign rallies on November 12, 14, and 16, while Priyanka Gandhi will address rallies on November 13, 16, and 17. The chief ministers of Telangana and Karnataka, along with other senior Congress leaders from across India, will also join the campaign,” he said.
The Congress leader further informed that Congress rebels, who did not withdraw their nominations against the official candidates of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, have been suspended from the Congress for six years. “There will be no friendly fights. All the rebels contesting against the MVA’s official candidates have been suspended,” the AICC in-charge of Maharashtra said.
The party has planned a door to door campaign programme to inform voters about the guarantees announced by the MVA in the ‘Maharashtra Swabhimaan Sabha’ held at Bandra-Kurla Complex. The guarantees include Rs 3,000 per month and free travel for women, waiver of farm loans up to Rs 3 lakh across Maharashtra, an incentive payment of Rs 50,000 to farmers who consistently repay their loans, monthly support of Rs 4,000 to every unemployed youth in the state, affordable health insurance of Rs 25 lakh to all households and free-of-cost essential medicines in government hospitals.
Mr. Chennithala said that the MVA manifesto will be released on November 10 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Mumbai in the presence of Mr. Kharge. NCP state president Jayant Patil and Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut will also be present for unveiling the manifesto.
Responding to BJP’s criticism of the MVA guarantees, Mr Chennithala said, “The guarantees announced by the MVA will be implemented once the government is formed. The BJP has been releasing false advertisements to spread rumours and misinformation against the Congress guarantees. Some advertisements have been published in various newspapers without any attribution. The Congress will file a complaint with the Election Commission about this. In Karnataka, Telangana, and Himachal Pradesh, Congress has already started implementing the guarantees it promised.”
