Maharashtra poll outcome 'inexplicable', level-playing field disturbed in targeted manner: Congress

New Delhi: The Congress on Saturday described the Maharashtra poll outcome as "inexplicable" and claimed that the level-playing field was disturbed in a targeted manner as part of a conspiracy to defeat it. The opposition party, however, hailed the result in Jharkhand, saying the people of the state had categorically rejected the "politics of polarisation" peddled by the BJP.

"The Maharashtra assembly poll result is surprising, inexplicable for us," Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said, stressing that it was not a victory of development, as projected by the BJP.

On Jharkhand, he said, "The people of Jharkhand have decisively rejected the politics of polarisation."


Congress leader Pawan Khera said, as the principal opposition party, "we find it our responsibility to keep raising issues of transparency in elections".

"The people of Jharkhand made victorious the government that worked for them," he said.

"The Maharashtra outcome has been brought out through a targeted conspiracy after the level-playing field was disturbed in the state to defeat the Congress... Our morale is not down and we will strengthen the organisation and analyse the results," Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said at a press conference.

"We won and lost today but the Congress' agenda will not change and we will keep raising the issues that we have been raising such as that of caste census, raising reservation limit of 50 per cent, growing economic disparity and 'Modani'," Ramesh said, adding that the people of Maharashtra had not rejected these issues, as projected by the BJP.

He said the Maharashtra results were opposite to the ground situation in the state a few months ago.

"We will analyse the poll outcome and come out with measures to strengthen the organisation and revive it in the state and continue to raise the issues that we have been raising," he said.

"We will keep raising questions on electoral transparency and there will be no change in our agenda," Ramesh said.