Congress Member of Parliament Rahul Gandhi has called for a review meeting to evaluate the party's election readiness for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections. This meeting comes in the wake of the party's unexpected defeat in Haryana, where it failed to leverage a decade-long anti-incumbency sentiment against the BJP.
The meeting is set to take place at the Congress headquarters in Delhi at 10 AM and will involve key party figures, including Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole, and other prominent leaders such as Vijay Wadettiwar, Prithviraj Chavan, Balasaheb Thorat, Varsha Gaikwad, and Ramesh Chennithala. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge is also expected to attend.
Following predictions of a decisive victory in Haryana, Congress managed to secure only 37 out of 90 Assembly seats, while the BJP won 48 seats. This outcome has prompted several members of the INDIA bloc to question the Congress's strategy in the northern state, urging the party to reflect on its approach.
The review meeting is particularly significant as members of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA)—a coalition consisting of Congress, the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction of Shiv Sena, and the Sharad Pawar-led faction of NCP—are advocating for an increased number of seats to contest in the forthcoming elections.
Maharashtra, with a total of 288 Assembly seats, is scheduled to hold elections either next month or in December.