'INDIA putting up good poll fight, Ram Mandir issue not working for BJP'

Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan has noted the INDIA bloc has not emerged as powerful as it was originally conceived since some outfits stayed away from the opposition grouping but it is putting up a spirited fight against the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls The former Maharashtra Chief Minister claimed Ram Mandir has failed to click for the BJP as a political issue in the elections because of which the saffron party is flounderingIn an interview to PTI at Karad in his home district of Satara in western Maharashtra he sought to dispel perception that the Congress got a raw deal in seatsharing with Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA allies in the state but admitted negotiations were tough since three parties were involved in talksChavan who is the state Congress campaign committee chief asserted opposition parties were determined to ensure antiBJP votes dont get dividedWe have succeeded to a large extent in bringing antiBJP parties under one roof even though the INDIA bloc is not as powerful as we had originally thought as some key components are not with us noted the 78yearold politicianThe INDIA alliance by and large has been successful in putting up a fight against the BJP which along with its coalition partners is eying more than 400 seats in the 543member Lok Sabha he saidThe Congressdominated grouping an amalgamation of more than two dozen parties opposed to the BJP took shape last year to challenge the BJP in the Lok Sabha pollsHe expressed confidence that Lok Sabha poll results when declared on June 4 will surprise all especially in Maharashtra which has 48 seats the second highest after Uttar Pradesh 80The MVA will do very well in Maharashtra and win more seats than the ruling Mahayuti alliance Results will surprise all said the former Union ministerChavan contended that smaller parties like the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi VBA and the All India MajlisEIttehadul Muslimeen AIMIM will only end up dividing antiBJP votesThe Ram Mandir issue is not working politically for the BJP so it is worried Chavan claimedDue to Balakot airstrike on terror camps inside Pakistan there was a 7 per cent swing in favour of the BJP in 2019 polls They expected Ram Mandir to create that swing in 2024 but that is not happening Ram Mandir has failed to click for the BJP he emphasizedSpeaking about issues before electorates Chavan maintained rising inflation and unemployment are hurting common citizensIn western Maharashtra the percentage of educated unemployed is very high There is a lot of economic disparity because of massive unemployment the senior Congress leader saidAnother important issue is Minimum Support Price MSP for farm products Sugarcane and soybean growers are in a bad state as market rates of these commodities are very low he notedExports stopped and then prices dropped To reduce inflation all burdens are put on farmers he saidSince Prime Minister Narendra Modi had to withdraw the three contentious farm laws in 2021 after a yearlong protest he is pursuing iquestantifarmeriquest policies Chavan allegedThe former CM said people were angry with the BJP over how the Shiv Sena and the NCP were split in Maharashtra and the MVA government was toppled in June 2022After engineering splits in the Shiv Sena and the NCP attempts were made to break the Congress too but that failed he notedTwo to three disgruntled leaders left the Congress but the party remains intact and it is now the largest opposition political formation in the state assembly noted the MLA from Karad SouthThe BJP is not playing a fair game and the opposition should be allowed to campaign freely he said and referred to the arrest of a sitting chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and freezing of bank accounts of the Congress to allege obstruction in electioneeringHe said the MVA consisting of the Congress the Shiv Sena UBT and the NCP Sharadchandra Pawar was a strong alliance within the INDIA blocThe Congress endeavour is to avoid a split in opposition vote There is 6065 per cent vote against the BJP But it gets split among different parties We dont want that to happen said ChavanTurning to state politics the former CM rejected suggestions that the Congress had taken a backseat in seatsharing talks with alliesWe have tried to allocate seats based on past history local strength of parties and electoral merit of candidates But everyone cannot be pleased he saidDisagreements over a couple of Lok Sabha seats will not impact the threeparty alliance in rest of the state he maintainedAs per the seatsharing formula worked out by the MVA the Shiv Sena UBT will contest in 21 constituencies the Congress 17 and the NCP SP 10There is no junior or senior party in the MVA Unfortunately we won just one seat in 2019 while the undivided Shiv Sena in alliance with BJP bagged 18 seats Our entire objective is to win maximum seats and dislodge the BJP from power the Congress leader assertedOn his name figuring as probable candidate for the Satara Lok Sabha seat Chavan said The constituency belongs to NCP SP and its president Sharad Pawar decided to nominate Shashikant Shinde after considering various permutations and combinationsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever