Congress swears against pre-poll tie-ups

After its worst-ever performance in Maharashtra’s Assembly polls, where the party’s tally fell to a record low of 42 seats, the Congress has also suffered election setbacks in recent local body elections across the state.

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Voting patterns in these elections show that besides ceding space to the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena, the Congress has also lost its considerable loyal support base among the Muslims and Dalit communities, party sources said.

Chavan, a former CM, said pre-poll alliance had weakened the party in some regions. “We would be more comfortable with post-poll alliances,” he said.

In the run-up to the Assembly polls last year, the 15-year Congress-NCP alliance in the state had ended on a bitter note.

Now, to help the NCP retain power in Navi Mumbai, the Congress has agreed for post-poll alliance. Chavan, however, clarified that no pre-election alliance talks had been held even in this case.

To arrest the party’s slide in the state, the Congress has decided to rejuvenate the party’s cadre on priority in districts like Jalgaon (North Maharashtra), Thane (Konkan), and Beed (Marathwada), where the NCP consolidated itself during the Congress-NCP reign.