Mohammed Arif Naseem Khan.
Credit: X/@naseemkhaninc
Mumbai: The performance of the Congress in the Lok Sabha polls has given a major boost to the grand old party in poll-bound Maharashtra, veteran Congressman and former minister Naseem Khan said.
According to Khan, the increase in Congress' tally of Lok Sabha seats has boosted the morale of party leaders and workers.
Khan, a four-time MLA and the working president of Maharashtra Congress, said that the Maha Vikas Aghadi comprising the party, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) will go all-out against the BJP-led Maha Yuti, which includes Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar's faction of the NCP.
The Congress won 13 Lok Sabha seats in the state. A Congress rebel, who contested as an independent candidate, has promised support to the party after meeting its leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
“Maharashtra has given 14 seats to Congress’ kitty, the maximum from any state. Besides, it is the only state where the party has secured double digits. This is a political morale booster,” Khan said.
“Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra, is the birthplace of the Congress. Maharashtra traditionally has been a Congress-ruled state,” he said, adding that Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra and Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra played a crucial role in the party’s victory.
Khan also urged the Maharashtra government to work with the Centre and ensure reservations for Maratha, Muslim and Dhangar communities.
“Manoj Jarange-Patil has been undertaking protests and hunger strikes for a year now. It is time that the government resolve the issue and extend reservation for Marathas, Muslims and Dhangars based on economic and social backwardness,” Khan said, adding that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde must take up the issue with the Centre.
Khan, who was a minister in the erstwhile Congress-NCP Democratic Front government and now is a key leader in the Maha Vikas Aghadi, said the Congress-NCP government in 2014 had issued an ordinance whereby they gave a five per cent quota to the Muslim community, and 16 per cent to the Marathas. However, the BJP-Shiv Sena government that came to power in the state in the successive polls and ruled from 2014-19, enacted a law for the Marathas but scrapped the reservation given to Muslims, he said.
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