Prithviraj Chavan blamed by Congress members for Lok Sabha polls debacle
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- Category: Maharashtra Political News
- Last Updated: Thursday, 22 January 2015 21:00
Prithviraj Chavan blamed by Congress members for Lok Sabha polls debacle
New Delhi: Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan came under scathing attack at a meeting of the AICC Committee headed by senior leader AK Antony, with some state leaders telling the high command that the party's fate would be no better in the Assembly polls due by October.
Going into the causes of the worst electoral debacle in the Lok Sabha polls, the Committee was told by the detractors of the chief minister as also PCC Chief Manikrao Thakre that the failure of the state leadership to rise to the occasion cost the party dearly, party sources said. The panel led by Antony met party leaders from Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh today. Congress has won two seats each in the two states which has 48 and 39 Lok Sabha seats respectively. Also Read.. Public Interest Litigation(PIL) challenges Maratha reservation in Maharashtra
Argument of Chavan's supporters was that the writing was on the wall as pre-poll surveys conducted by the party immediately after Narendra Modi was projected as BJP's PM candidate, had projected as much as 54% support to the NDA and just 36% to the ruling UPA. This gap widened as the poll neared. Also Read..Maharashtra Congress not yet ready for elections; NCP begins poll preparation
Detractors of the chief minister complained to the Committee that candidates did not get adequate resources from the state leadership at a time when the NDA campaign was aggressive. There was not much to write home about the accomplishments of the Chavan government, they said.
Congress has been a divided house since the defeat in the Lok Sabha polls with detractors of the chief minister like Narayan Rane and Ashok Chavan giving ample indications that Shiv Sena-BJP alliance will assume power in the coming assembly elections if the chief minister is not changed. Two members of the Antony panel - AICC General Secretary Mukul Wasnik and AICC Secretary Avinash Pande - hail from Maharashtra. The fourth member of the panel is Rajya Sabha member R C Khuntia.
source:http://zeenews.india.com/