The two-day India Today Conclave has kicked off at the Taj Lands End hotel in Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra. This event, held ahead of the Maharashtra elections, began with a discussion featuring former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, who led the last Congress government in the state. Chavan stated that we had predicted winning 32 seats for the Mahavikas Aghadi in the Lok Sabha elections, and we secured 31 seats.
He expressed confidence in winning the assembly elections. When asked if the Congress was repeating its overconfidence mistake after emerging as the largest party in the Lok Sabha elections, Chavan said the formation of the India Alliance shows that the Congress is moving ahead by learning from past mistakes.
Regarding the ongoing debate in the MVA about the CM face, he mentioned that in Maharashtra, the largest party traditionally gets to appoint the CM. Prithviraj Chavan stated that Uddhav Thackeray was appointed CM in 2019 based on this formula, with Shiv Sena being the largest party at that time. The former CM added that the Congress leadership and Rahul Gandhi have to make this decision. The opposition party does not announce a CM face before entering the election field here.
Read more: What is the Congress's stance on Maratha reservation? Former CM explains at the India Today Conclave.
Regarding disagreements within the MVA, he said that we will enter the election field with a common manifesto and common election strategy and win. When asked about seat sharing, Chavan said that the Congress had a good strike rate in the last elections. He highlighted different regions from Marathwada to Vidarbha and mentioned that while they joined the alliance as a junior partner, the people changed the equation.
The former CM stated that they emerged as the largest party in the Lok Sabha elections. On the cash benefit scheme for women, Prithviraj Chavan mentioned that they implemented it in Himachal and Karnataka. They promised this in Madhya Pradesh, but it was implemented by Shivraj Singh Chouhan. This idea came from the Congress. We welcome this scheme and will continue it if we come to power. Claiming a Congress victory, he said that the public chose the MVA among the two alliances in the Lok Sabha elections as well.
