Ashok Chavan put in charge of election strategy for Marathwada

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Congress today gave the former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan the responsibility of drawing up Assembly elections strategy for Marathwada region.

Chavan, now the Lok Sabha MP from Nanded, will be assisted by ministers Madhukar Chavan, Rajendra Darda, Amit Deshmukh, Abdul Sattar and D P Sawant, all of whom hail from Marathwada, party sources said. Chavan had to quit as the Chief Minister after getting embroiled in Adarsh Society scam in 2010.

Hingoli MP Rajiv Satav and Rajya Sabha member Rajni Patil will also be part of the group headed by Chavan. The region has 46 Assembly constituencies out of which Congress had won 18 in 2009. The region sends eight MPs to the Lok Sabha. In this year's elections, Congress was washed out in the entire state, barring Nanded and Hingoli constituencies in Marathwada.

Party sources said Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, state Congress chief Manikrao Thakare and Congress general secretary Mohan Prakash held discussions with leaders from the region about pending local issues such as demand for inclusion of some castes in the reservation category, funds for upgradation of places of worship, road repairs, farmers' issues, etc.

Yesterday the state Congress started region-wise preparations for Assembly elections by identifying the senior leaders who would oversee the campaign in Western Maharashtra.