Congress appoints 11 observers, two coordinators for Maha polls

Mumbai: Wary after the bitter experience in the Haryana Assembly elections recently, the Congress is apparently not taking any chances for the Maharashtra Assembly polls scheduled for November 20.

As the first step in this endeavour, the Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has named 11 political stalwarts from different states as “observers” for the five regions in the state and also two Election Senior Coordinators for the crucial assembly elections, coming up post-Diwali festivities.

The two state Election Senior Coordinators appointed for the state are: Mukul Wasnik and Avinash Pande, who would oversee the minute details and systematise various aspects of the Assembly elections within the party for the 288 seats, said party sources here.

For the country's commercial capital Mumbai and coastal Konkan Division, the observers named are former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Karnataka Home Minister Dr. G. Parameshwara.

Vidarbha region has been entrusted to former Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh Bhupesh Baghel, former Chief Minister of Punjab Charanjit Singh Channi and ex-minister and sitting MLA of Madhya Pradesh Umang Singhar.

Marathwada shall be under the observation of former Deputy Chief Minister Rajasthan Sachin Pilot and Telangana Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy.

Western Maharashtra shall be looked after by T. S. Singh Deo, the former Deputy CM of Chhattisgarh and Karnataka Minister M. B. Patil.

Finally, the North Maharashtra would be handled by Rajya Sabha Member from Karnataka Syed Nasir Hussain and Telangana Minister Dansari Anasuya popularly known as Seethakka.

There are demands from various quarters within and outside the party to deploy Congress’ Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi in a big way for Maharashtra in the high-stakes elections and organize at least two election rallies for him in each region.

A party source pointed out that in the 2024 LS polls, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi's genuineness had struck a chord with the state masses that helped the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (SP)-Shiv Sena (UBT) bag 31 of the 48 parliamentary seats here.

However, Rahul Gandhi would also be required to campaign in the Jharkhand Assembly polls (Nov. 13-20) not to mention the Lok Sabha by-polls in Nanded (Maharashtra) and Wayanad (Kerala), which the Congress will fight to retain.

Wayanad was won by Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 and 2024 LS polls but he opted to retain the Rae Bareli seat (which he had bagged in 2024), while Nanded fell vacant after the recent demise of the sitting Congress MP Vasantrao B. Chavan.

Though the candidate for Nanded is yet to be announced, Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra is expected to fight her maiden elections from Wayanad, making it another prestige issue for the party.

Aware of the pitfalls in the state with a belligerent MahaYuti working to retain power, the Congress top brass had made it clear that it would not tolerate any laggard behaviour from the state party leaders or workers, at a high-level meeting held in New Delhi at Kharge’s home yesterday (October 14).

The central leadership has also stressed on the need to maintain intra-party unity at all costs, curb any signs of potential rebellion, and extend full cooperation to all the MVA allies besides the smaller supporting parties with the solitary aim of capturing Maharashtra again with the highest number of seats.