Mumbai: After positioning Congress as the No.1 party in Maharashtra and the only state in India in which the grand old party crossed the double-digit mark in Lok Sabha polls, Nana Patole asserted that the credit goes to Rahul Gandhi’s back-to-back Yatras.
The turnaround for the grand old party was possible because of the Bharat Jodo Yatra and Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, said Patole, the President of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC).
Patole’s mission is to oust the BJP and its allies out of power in Maharashtra in the forthcoming Vidhan Sabha polls.
“If you look at the map of Maharashtra carefully and match it with the routes of two yatras, you would see that most of the parliamentary seats along it were won by Congress or its alliance partners,” said Patole, a former Speaker of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
The Congress’ success in Vidarbha, the region from where Patole hails, has been mercurial.
Patole said that the Congress has transferred its votes to the two key allies of Congress in Maharashtra – the Uddhav Thackeray-headed Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP).
A vocal critic of Narendra Modi, and the first to rebel as an MP and resign from the BJP during Modi’s first term as prime minister. Patole said, “His speeches have not gone down well in Maharashtra….the PM was spewing venom and this is not expected from a person who holds the most important post. Modi’s popularity is in decline,” Patole told Deccan Herald.
I.N.D.I.A bloc has gained space in the hearts and minds of people, he said.
“During the Bharat Jodo Yatra and Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, Rahul Gandhi has spread the message of love across the country…the people of this great nation see a lot of hope from him,” he said, adding that the two crucial Uttar Pradesh seats of Amethi and Raebareli have boosted the morale of party workers.
Patole said that ever since the Maha Vikas Aghadi has been formed the Congress leadership in the state has sensitised the party workers to fight the battle in unison with our allies, around a dozen.
“We have followed alliance-dharma even though we may have had some setbacks in some seats,” he said.
Patole made it clear that the Congress deserves to contest the maximum seats in the Assembly polls looking at the result of general elections.