BJP Has Damaged the State's Social Fabric for Political Gains. We Will Counter That

After being named the Maharashtra Congress president, Harshwardhan Sapkal, 57, spoke to Shailesh Gaikwad, about the party's roadmap, "even as BJP plays divide and rule".

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MUMBAI: He underscored that BJP is not as strong on ground as it projects itself to be, and hence makes a habit of splitting up parties. While the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) will remain a strong Opposition, he said, his mandate is to rebuild and strengthen the Congress in state.

You are taking over at a time when the party has suffered its worst ever defeat in assembly elections, your cadre is demoralised and the BJP is dominating the political landscape. How will you revive the party in Maharashtra?

The number of elected MPs and MLAs a party has is important but not the sole yardstick to weigh its performance. Beyond elections, there is a battle of ideologies between us and them. Ours is the idea of India. We are facing a group that does not believe in the Constitution. Consider the Centre's decision on picking the new Election Commissioner or the controversy in Beed after sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh's murder. There was no morality. We need to counter that by preparing an action plan.