Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and state unit Congress president Manikrao Thakre on Wednesday targetted NCP for the party's debacle in recently held legislative council elections, almost putting the Sharad Pawar-led party on notice.
"We decided to forget the past and fight the six legislative council polls from the local bodies constituencies with NCP. However our friends are not ready to give up their old habits. If this continues, we will have to chart out our future course of action," Thakre said at a party meeting in Tilak Bhavan in Mumbai.
Terming the Congress' defeats in Chandrapur and Amravati local bodies seats as a "very bad experience", Chavan said, "the party will take a decision on this very soon and would discuss the issue at the party level as well".
"Congress was in alliance with the NCP due to circumstances. If we want these circumstances to change, all party workers need to sink their own differences and work for strengthening the party at the grassroots," Thakre said.
He further said a "chintan baithak" will be organised soon to discuss the party's future political strategy.
Thakre also said that meetings will be held at the district and taluka levels to motivate party workers and he will undertake a tour to this effect along with Chavan from August-September onwards.
Congress lost Chandrapur and Amravati local bodies seats in the biennial elections to legislative council held on May 25 for six seats altogether and could retain only the Latur local bodies seat in which Dilip Deshmukh, younger brother of union minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, was re-elected for the third time.
Earlier, party activists criticised the state leadership for ignoring block and booth-level workers, alleging that "ministers do not entertain them if they don't belong to their group.
"The menace of factionalism is doing a great harm to the organisation", they said.
Meanwhile, Congress general secretary Basavraj Patil demanded that booth and district units of the party be constituted immediately.
"Even at the cost of losing power, Congress has to take a decision to go alone in the next assembly elections. Let us contest on our own and strengthen the grassroot level," he said.
Another office-bearer Vinayak Deshmukh said that to ensure that Congress wins the assembly polls on its own, the party workers need to give up complacency and self interest.
"The period of next two years is our agnipariksha. We have to select 20 workers as jansevaks from each of 28,900 gram panchayats so that we have an army of six lakh jan sevaks who monitor the implementation of UPA government's flagship programmes,"he said.
Congress state women's cell chief Kamal Vyavhare lamented that the party leadership wanted the workers to just do party work and get nothing in return. "NCP wants to destroy us, take our help to get their candidates elected. We need to teach them a lesson. Groupism in the party is harming the interests of genuine and meritorious party workers at the grassroots," she complained.
Former MP Subodh Mohite said "non-cohesiveness" in the party should be removed and people's connectivity with party is needed to be strengthened. He cited decentralisation of functional autonomy and revitalisation of the party to strengthen the party.
"We need to identify potential talent, give them tasks and encourage outcome based promotions," Mohite said.
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