Mumbai, Apr 9: The Congress in Maharashtra Monday asked its workers to gear up for Lok Sabha polls, amid speculations that the general elections will be held in November this year.
Addressing a meeting of the party's Mumbai unit where he handed over the charge of party's affairs in the metropolis to Janardhan Chandurkar, state Congress chief Manikrao Thakre said all party workers in Mumbai should start preparing for the Lok Sabha elections amid talks that they will be held in November this year.
“Our party has a strong base in Mumbai with five of the six MPs and 17 of the 36 Assembly seats. We suffered reverses in Mumbai civic polls last year as we made few mistakes. But local issues are different. We are a strong and cultured party,” Thakre said.
“Rahul Gandhi will lead the party and the country in future. We have to work unitedly to achieve our goal of serving the country,” he said.
He described Chandurkar as a grass root leader and called upon the workers to strengthen his hands.
Chandurkar said his appointment as the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC) president was an honour for Dalits and backward class communities.
He said, Mumbai, which is described as the ‘Maximum City' has maximum problems like housing, transportation, slums and old and dilapidated buildings.
“The state government has always tried to solve these issues and it is the job of the party to ensure that the decisions reach the common man,” he said.
Chandurkar demanded that the government should regularise slums till the year 2000, implement slum rehabilitation scheme on central government land and reduce the property tax hike announced by the Mumbai civic body.
Chandurkar also said the Mumbai Congress will file an appeal in the high court seeking permission for holding a rally at Shivaji Park.
“We plan to invite Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi for the rally,” he said.
Chandurkar asked the district unit chiefs to be available to the party workers and general public.
He also announced district-wise meetings for all six districts in Mumbai at the end of this month and in the first week of May and appealed to the workers to contribute to the chief minister's relief fund for drought-relief measures.
He said in the last year's civic polls, Shiv Sena-BJP got two per cent more votes than the Congress. “We have to break that two per cent lead,” he said.
Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan highlighted the decisions of his government for Mumbai's infrastructure up-gradation. He said projects worth Rs one lakh crore are currently in progress or nearing completion.
