MVA committed to defeating 'corrupt' govt in Maharashtra: KC Venugopal

Mumbai: Congress leader K C Venugopal on Friday said the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance was committed to defeating the "corrupt" government in Maharashtra, and said the people of the state will teach the ruling BJP a lesson in the upcoming assembly polls.

He said the opposition will run a good narrative and all leaders of his party have been asked to speak in one voice.

The AICC general secretary (organisation) was talking to reporters after attending a meeting here to review the party's preparations for the assembly elections and to decide its poll strategies. Assembly polls are likely to be held in October this year.

"People of Maharashtra will teach the BJP a lesson in the upcoming assembly elections in the state, and we are committed to defeating the corrupt state government formed by theft and which is not an unnatural alliance," he said.

"Congress leaders in the state have been told to stay united and speak in one voice. The party is in touch with all MVA allies. We will focus on unemployment and farmers' issues. Today, we discussed election preparations and strategy to strengthen our party in the state," he said.

The political atmosphere in the country has changed, Venugopal said, adding that post Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won just two seats in the assembly bypolls to 13 seats in the country, while the INDIA bloc won 11.

"After winning Ayodhya (Faizabad Lok Sabha seat), we (INDIA bloc) won Badrinath (assembly bypoll seat) as well. The Uttarakhand police were not allowing our voters to go to the polling booths. The government machinery was misused, still people defeated them," he said.

This was a clear message, he said.

"In Maharashtra, a very top leader deserted us before the Lok Sabha polls...But what happened in Nanded?" he asked, without naming former chief minister Ashok Chavan, who joined the BJP earlier this year after snapping decades-long ties with the grand old party.

With Chavan on its side, the BJP expected that it would win the Nanded Lok Sabha seat comfortably. However, it faced an embarrassment after sitting MP Pratap Patil Chikhalikar lost the election to the Congress candidate.

Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole said the MVA leaders will meet soon to finalise the election strategy and seat-sharing for the assembly polls.

Congress will launch its election campaign on August 20, the birth anniversary of late PM Rajiv Gandhi.

"We have invited party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and leader Rahul Gandhi," he said.

The Congress will stress on merit as the key for seat-sharing.

"We are committed to defeating the state government led by the BJP-Shiv Sena, and save Maharashtra's self respect," he said.