'Congress leaders had come to Maha for political tourism'

The Congress leaders tasked with "managing" and "monitoring" the Maharashtra cadre for the Assembly elections are said to have assumed the elections would be an easy win and therefore did not pursue their targets assertively.

- BADAR BASHIR

This resulted in the party's lowest-ever performance, winning only 16 Assembly constituencies out of the 103 contested, with a meagre strike rate of 15%.

According to top sources privy to the developments, Sharad Pawar had already expressed concerns about the Congress' state leadership, as it was not responsive to the changing electoral dynamics in Maharashtra.

Sharad Pawar reportedly told Congress leaders, according to a source, that the Maha Vikas Aghadi's two parties, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Shiv Sena, had strong cadres, while the Congress had a rich legacy that could create an effective combination for victory.

However, he cautioned that if Congress did not respect the other two parties' units, they might fail to secure a win.