With the NCP and Shiv Sena having suffered debilitating vertical splits in Maharashtra, the Congress has decided to take advantage of the situation and hit the ground running to expand its base and strengthen itself without antagonising these two Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies of the party. The Congress is also preparing to drive a hard bargain in seat-sharing with the NCP and Shiv Sena (UBT) for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. A five-hour- long meeting of top Congress leaders from Maharashtra with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior party leader Rahul Gandhi saw the party central leadership also indulging in some tough talk. The overwhelming sense at the brainstorming meeting was that the developments in the NCP and the Sena have presented a “golden opportunity” to the Congress to try and regain lost ground in the state – which was once its stronghold – and fill what it believes is the “vacuum” in the Opposition space. The signal emanating from the meeting was also that the Congress will not back down on its claim for the post of Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the state Assembly now. Sources said the sense was that Congress now is the “natural claimant” for the LoP's post and that talks will be held with the leadership of the NCP and Sena (UBT) in this regard ahead of the upcoming Assembly session. Sources said Rahul told the leaders to shed their personal differences, unite and get into campaign mode for the Lok Sabha elections. His message was that the leaders should hit the ground running and not wait for the outcome of the party's seat-sharing talks with the MVA allies. The Congress leadership is however keen that the party should not antagonise Sharad Pawar or Uddhav Thackeray. The rumblings in the state unit also came out in the open with Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president Nana Patole saying that the visits by leaders to Delhi complaining against the state leadership affects the party’s functioning. On his part, Kharge told Patole not to upset party leaders by travelling to their bastions without keeping them in the loop. As the Congress unit chief, Patole was told that he was free to travel across the state but he should keep the local party leaders informed, sources said. The meeting also saw demands for the removal of H K Patil as the AICC in- charge of the state, given that he is now a minister in the Siddaramaiah-led party government in Karnataka. As part of the plan to expand the Congress's base, it was decided that the party will hold separate padyatras in September in all the districts under one senior leader of that district. In November-December, the party will organise a bus yatra across the state that would involve all the senior leaders. With some leaders raising the issue of funding, it was also decided that all senior leaders would be assigned the responsibility of one parliamentary constituency each. Maharashtra is the "bastion" of the Congress, Rahul said. "Our focus is on strengthening the Congress there and raising the voice of the people. Together, we will ensure that this anti-people government is defeated," he said in a Facebook post later. The meeting was attended by all senior leaders from Maharashtra, including Sushilkumar Shinde, Ashok Chavan, Prithviraj Chavan, Sanjay Nirupam and Milind Deora.
