Congress's Solo Run in Maharashtra Local Body Polls Revives Grassroots Network

Mumbai: The Congress's decision to contest alone in most parts of Maharashtra during the recently concluded local body elections offered the party a mixed lesson. While the results fell short of expectations, leaders believed the solo run helped revive its fading grassroots network — a point that came up during Rahul Gandhi's brief visit to Mumbai on Saturday.

Leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi visited Mumbai on Saturday, appeared before a court in Bhiwandi in connection with a criminal defamation case linked to remarks made during the 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign, and held an unplanned meeting with senior Congress leaders in Mumbai during his spare time to review the party's performance in the recently concluded local body elections. During the meeting, leaders told Gandhi that the solo run helped revive the party's fading grassroots network.

Leaders present said the discussion turned candid, with Gandhi expressing disappointment over the party's electoral showing, particularly in urban pockets, including Mumbai. Gandhi held a separate review meeting with Maharashtra Congress President Harshwardhan Sapkal to assess organisational weaknesses and strength. He also spoke to Mumbai party chief Varsha Gaikwad about the party securing fewer seats in the city than anticipated.

Party sources said leaders pointed to a severe lack of resources and organisational preparedness in several constituencies as a major reason for the underwhelming performance. Leaders said Gandhi instructed them to reconnect with people directly by taking up local civic issues and returning to street-level agitations. Internal politics also surfaced during the discussions. Several leaders raised concerns about seat-sharing decisions, particularly leaving certain crucial wards to the Prakash Ambedkar led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA).

A senior leader present said the Colaba area, where a relative of the Assembly Speaker was contesting, was an example of poor political judgement as the Congress gave seats in that area to VBA, and leaders argued such decisions weakened the party's local presence at prominent areas and confused workers on the ground. Despite the disappointing results, Gandhi reportedly told party leaders to expedite the alignments of local level party office bearers with an emphasis on strengthening booth-level committees, addressing civic grievances, and regaining credibility among voters by raising local public issues aggressively.