Congress to contest Maharashtra local body polls solo

By Ajit K Jha
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], July 21 : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has proposed a 'master plan' for the future of the party in the state, state unit chief Nana Patole said on Wednesday.
Despite forming a coalition government under the Maha Vikas Anghadi (MVA), Congress will be contesting the local elections separately, he added. Patole, along with Karnataka Congress in-charge HK Patil met with Gandhi on Tuesday to discuss the party's strategy in the coming days.
"Congress will fight the Maharashtra local body polls alone. My dream for Maharashtra Congress is to make the party number one. Rahul Gandhi has given a master plan which will be worked upon. We will do anything to strengthen Congress," he told ANI.
In the meeting, the party leaders also discussed organization formation.
Asked whether the Congress party will fight with MVA partners Shiv Sena and National Congress Party (NCP) in the upcoming assembly and Lok Sabha elections, or if it will contest alone, Patole said, "The election is in three years. The party high command will take a decision."
This comes amid the ongoing rift between parties of the MVA government. Patole had alleged that his phone was being tapped by the Maharashtra government and that 'some people' were stabbing Congress in the back.
NCP sources also informed that a few MVA leaders were angry with recent statements made by Patole about his party's 'growing influence in Maharashtra'.
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, HK Patil and Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat met Sharad Pawar at his residence in Silver Oak last week and assured that the MVA government was stable and the Congress chief's statements had been taken out of context.
They also assure Pawar that Congress chief Nana Patole's statements on the MVA alliance would not be repeated.