Pune: The ‘Jan Sangharsh Yatra’ campaign has united Congress party leaders and revived party workers against the backdrop of the upcoming State assembly polls, while aspirants took this opportunity to show their strength in their strongholds.
After Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to the power in the State, Centre as well as in Pune Municipal Corporation, Congress suffered major setbacks. Party differences came to the fore at the city level and they levelled allegations on each other for defections. Former Member of Parliament (MP) Suresh Kalmadi was a powerful leader in the city. However, after Commonwealth Youth Game (CYG) scam allegations, Kalmadi was thrown out from Congress party. From last two assembly polls, City Congress is working without strong leadership.
Against this background came Congress party’s statewide ‘Jan Sangharsh Yatra’ against BJP-led government in the State and Centre. It concluded in Pune on September 8 in the presence of Opposition party leader in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and Opposition leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge.
During his speech, Azad admired the unity of Congress in the city and State and appealed to party units in different states to draw inspiration from it.
While speaking to Sakal Times, Ramesh Bagwe admitted that party leaders are united and shared the stage in this function. He said, “The yatra united city Congress leaders and they took part in it without any differences. Party leaders showed their strength in their strongholds and party workers came together in huge numbers. It revived the city Congress.”
Mohan Joshi, former Member of Legislative Council (MLC) of Congress party, said, “During the yatra, Congress leaders and workers assembled for one cause. It is a good sign against the backdrop of upcoming polls. We connected with our traditional voters. After Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s rally in 2014 polls, Congress leaders came together and shared the same stage.”
Aba Bagul in Parvati, Ramesh Bagwe in Pune cantonment, Manish Anand in Shivajinagar, Ravindra Dhangekar in Kasba area showed their strength in their constituencies to senior leaders to secure their seats in upcoming State Assembly polls.
