Lok Sabha polls 2014: Congress & NCP struggle to hold ground in Maharashtra

MUMBAI: As 19 LS seats in Marathwada and western Maharashtra vote on Thursday, Congress and NCP appear downcast. This follows predictions that NDA’s chances look brighter than ever before.

The state Congress unit president , Manikrao Thakre, though, put up a brave front insisting Congress doesn’t believe in pollsters and said that the party was putting up a good fight.

But a BJP leader said Congress would have to pay heavily for corruption and its inability to take action against tainted politicians . “Between April 10 and April 17, Congress’s image has taken a heavy beating following disclosures made in a couple of recent books. The Congress base in Maharashtra is eroding fast,” he said.

The big players have all run hectic campaigns in areas that go to the polls — Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi, Rajnath Singh, Prithviraj Chavan, Sharad Pawar, Udhav and Raj Thackeray.

BJP mainly targeted Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, while Chavan, Pawar and Rahul attacked Modi for misleading people on Gujarat’s development story. The Congress vice-president alleged a partnership between Modi and the Adani group, while Chavan and Pawar insisted Maharashtra was better off in in industrial development and investments.

Former chief minister Ashok Chavan, BJP’s Gopinath Munde, state YC chief Vishwajeet Kadam, Sushilkumar Shinde, Supriya Sule, Youth Congress president Rajeev Satao and state industries minister Narayan Rane’s son Neelesh are prominent candidates in the contest.