NEW DELHI: Opposition leader in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Thursday left for Maharashtra where he will kick off the Congress campaign for the elections to the crucial state. Elections in Maharastra are due later this year and the Congress will contest the state poll in alliance with the UBT Sena and the NCP-SP.
Along with Rahul Gandhi, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge will also visit Maharashtra today. According to Congress’ social media post, after his arrival, Rahul Gandhi will unveil the statue of the former Minister of State, the late Patangrao Kadam, in Wangi around 1 pm and after that, he will hold a public meeting in Kadegaon around 1.45 pm.
In a social media post on X, the official handle of Congress wrote, “Congress President @kharge and LoP @RahulGandhi are scheduled to visit Maharashtra today. Stay tuned to our social media handles for live updates.”
#WATCH | Maharashtra: Congress president Malllikarjun Kharge and Lok Sabha LoP & Congress MP Rahul Gandhi arrive at the residence of Late Congress Nanded MP Vasantrao Chavan, in Naigaon, Nanded to meet his family members and offer their condolences
Vasant Chavan passed away on… pic.twitter.com/IamHhadMhD
— ANI (@ANI) September 5, 2024
Congress is currently part of the opposition-led Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance which comprises Congress itself, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shivsena UBT, and Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (SP). On September 4, NCP-SCP supremo Sharad Pawar said that the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance has no dispute over the post of Chief Minister and a final decision on the position would be made after the elections in Maharashtra.
Speaking at a press conference in Kolhapury, Pawar said there was no doubt that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) will get the majority in the upcoming legislative assembly elections that are expected to take place later this year.
“There is no dispute about the post of Chief Minister in our alliance. After the elections, we will think about it and make a decision. We have not got the majority yet, but there is no doubt that we will get the majority. Once the elections are over, we will sit and discuss the face of the post of Chief Minister”, he said. He further added many times in the past alliances had gone to the polls without any Chief Ministerial face.
“This has happened many times before when a party or alliance has gone to the elections without any face. And after the elections, someone has been chosen to run the government. For example, in the elections held immediately after the emergency in 1977, no one was made the candidate for the post of Prime Minister. Jayaprakash Narayan’s name was at the forefront; elections were held and when it came to choosing the Prime Minister, Morarji Desai was chosen as the Prime Minister.
“Therefore, I believe that there is no need to choose the face for the post of Chief Minister before the elections. After the elections, on the basis of the majority of the public, we will all sit together and after discussing among ourselves, we will choose the face for the post of Chief Minister,” Pawar added. (ANI)