Will collectively introspect ‘shocking’ drubbing in Maharashtra polls, says Congress

PTI, Nov 24, 2024, 11:03 AM IST

A day after BJP-led Mahayuti retained power in Maharashtra, the Congress on Sunday said that the party and other partners of the Maha Vikas Aghadi will collectively introspect the reasons of their ‘shocking’ drubbing in the crucial polls.

The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance on Saturday won 230 of the 288 assembly seats in Maharashtra and the Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi managed to garner just 46 seats.

AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said that the assembly poll results in Maharashtra was ‘shocking’ and ‘unbelievable’.

“We don’t understand what happened. It was not just the debacle of the Congress party but that of the entire Maha Vikas Aghadi. Let us first get a clear picture of what has happened,” he told a TV channel.

Venugopal said they felt surprised about the entire election procedure after the Maharashtra and Haryana drubbings.

When asked whether the grand-old-party suspected any sabotage in the Maharashtra election results, the leader said they were not raising any such allegation soon after the debacle.

“We suffered huge setbacks in the strongholds of Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray and that of the Congress. It is the failure of not just the Congress party but that of the entire alliance,” he said.

So, we will sit together and collectively introspect (its reasons), Venugopal added.

The Election Commission announced that the BJP had won 132 seats, the Shiv Sena 57, while the NCP 41 seats.

In the MVA, the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) candidates won 10 seats, Congress 16, while Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) 20 seats.

When asked about Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s huge majority win in Wayanad, the AICC general secretary said it was the result of collective work of the entire party leaders and workers.

“The party expected this huge majority in Wayanad. Soon after the polling, there was a huge concern about the majority. But, after the internal assessment of the party, we were sure that the low poll percentage would not impact Priyanka’s majority,” he said.

He also made it clear that the Wayanad landslide tragedy and the subsequent issues would be one of the issues that would be raised by Priyanka in the Lok Sabha.

Rejecting the opposition campaign that she would not visit Wayanad frequently, Venugopal said she would prove them wrong through her actions.

He also said that Priyanka would continue her interventions in north Indian politics as well, along with being the MP of Wayanad.

Congress general secretary Priyanka on Saturday won the Wayanad Lok Sabha bypoll with a thumping margin of over four lakh votes, surpassing her brother Rahul Gandhi’s victory margin in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, in her electoral debut