On Thursday, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis asserted that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's 'guarantee card' had failed to yield results in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, and would not succeed in Maharashtra either. Rahul Gandhi is set to unveil a 'guarantee card' outlining the Congress party's election promises for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections in 2024, according to state Congress officials.
"Rahul Gandhi's guarantee card did not help the Congress maintain its power in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh," Fadnavis stated during a press conference in Mumbai, as reported by PTI. He challenged Gandhi to explain why the promises made in the guarantee card have not been realized in Telangana and Himachal Pradesh, predicting that it would also fall short in Maharashtra.
Regarding the strategy of the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP 'Mahayuti' alliance to address the rebel candidates who have filed nominations against official candidates, Fadnavis mentioned that a meeting was held at Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's residence, attended by NCP chief Ajit Pawar, to discuss the matter. "We have resolved all the issues, and you will see many rebels withdrawing their nominations by November 4," he stated, adding that discussions would be held with the rebels to address their concerns.
The deadline for withdrawing nominations is November 4, with elections scheduled for November 20. Fadnavis also noted that the nominations from the 'Mahayuti' candidates have passed the scrutiny phase and that they would commence their campaign with full energy from November 5.
Rahul Gandhi is expected to visit Maharashtra on November 6 as part of the election campaign, where he will attend a “Samvidhan Samman Sammelan” in Nagpur, followed by the announcement of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) guarantees in Mumbai. Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole mentioned that the Mumbai event will also feature Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray.
The Congress party is contesting the most seats in the MVA, with a total of 103, followed by Shiv Sena (UBT) with 89 and NCP (SP) with 87 seats. Six seats have been allocated to other MVA allies, while there remains uncertainty regarding three assembly segments. The Maharashtra Assembly elections will occur in a single phase on November 20, with results to be declared on November 23.