Congress To Go Solo In Nashik Local Body Polls

Nashik: Congress will contest the upcoming local body elections, including Igatpuri and Trimbakeshwar municipal councils on its own. The state leadership said that although it is ready to cooperate with allies in the Maha Vikas Aghadi, the Congress is confident of success.

The Congress leader and Vice President of Tribal Cell, Lucky Jadhav said, “The Congress has decided that we will fight on our own. The voters are with the ideology of the Congress and with the leadership of Rahul Gandhi. We are confident that success will come our way. If like-minded parties come, we will welcome them. If the elements of the Maha Vikas Aghadi want to come with us, we will help them.”

Criticising the BJP government, he said, "The atmosphere is against the BJP government. This is not a grand alliance government, but a foolish government. The work of cheating the people is going on. Farmers' problems, unemployment, fraud in the Ladki Bahin scheme, the plight of traders, closure of companies, closure of schemes for the underprivileged sections - looting and cheating are going on everywhere. The roads in rural areas are in a bad shape. The people are now awake and will show this government a place in the elections through the constitution and democratic means."

Also expressing doubts about EVMs, "The Modi government came to power through vote theft and EVMs. If this happens in local elections, the trust of the voters will be shattered. As per Rahul Gandhi's demand, elections should be held on ballot papers. We demand that the Election Commission use ballot papers instead of EVMs."

The Congress has decided to contest the local body elections in Maharashtra independently, and Shiv Sena (UBT) has criticised this. This challenge will be important in the traditional strongholds of the Congress like Igatpuri-Trimbakeshwar.