Little brother's handicap

Congress leaders believe that Uddhav Thackeray's impact is limited and they have to carry his party along

- DNYANESH JATHAR

Will the Congress emerge as the single largest party in Maharashtra after the assembly elections in October-November? The ruling saffron alliance, especially the BJP leadership, will vehemently deny such a possibility. But, going by the results of the Lok Sabha elections, it would be fair to say that the Congress can win over 80 seats and thereby emerge as the single largest party.

A top Congress leader told THE WEEK that the party is way ahead in the Vidarbha region, which has 62 seats. Because of the Maratha reservation agitation, the Maha Vikas Aghadi will have an upper hand in the Marathwada region (46 seats), where the Congress will be on an equal standing with its allies, the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) and the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray). In western Maharashtra (58), the MVA will be ahead once again and the Congress and the NCP(SP) will dominate the scene. In Mumbai (36), too, the Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT) will dominate, said the leader who is among the decision makers for the state Congress. The only regions where the Congress appears weak are north Maharashtra (47) and Konkan (39).

The leader, requesting anonymity, further said that the Congress is comfortable in 70-80 seats. He said he could not give an exact number because seat sharing has not been finalised. The party has classified assembly constituencies into A, B and C categories. “A is where the Congress can win, B is where the party has to put in an effort and C is where it is weak,” he said. “But, rallies by senior leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi can certainly make a difference for us in every seat.”