Congress state leaders to meet on April 6

Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and newly-appointed all India Congress Committee general secretary Mohan Prakash have convened a meeting on the state leadership – right from the block level to the district level – in Mumbai on April 6.

Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and newly-appointed all India Congress Committee general secretary Mohan Prakash have convened a meeting on the state leadership – right from the block level to the district level – in Mumbai on April 6. State unit president Manikrao Thakre, whose post is at stake for a long time, is keen to cooperate with the duo.

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Chavan’s first-ever poll-related assignment will be held at YB Chavan Centre. The party will face 27 zilla parishads, more than 300 panchayat samitis and 10 municipal corporations in the next 12 months.

This will be a mini Assembly poll and the outcome will decide the party’s statewide influence. Currently, the Congress is the single largest party in the state legislature, followed by NCP,

the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena.

Mohan Prakash, who will attend his first meeting after taking charge of Maharashtra, will be honoured.

Union ministers Vilasrao Deshmukh, Gurudas Kamat, Murli Deora, Mukul Wasnik and Sushilkumar Shinde will give strategic inputs.

Sources in the Congress said winning the polls – including Mumbai, Thane and other corporations that are ruled by the opposition – would be an acid test for Chavan, who has been away from state politics for almost 20 years.

“It is not necessary that the NCP join hands with us for these elections. In fact, we fought most of the local elections against each other in the past 10 years,” said a senior Congress leader requesting anonymity.