Rahul asks party workers to strengthen base in Maharashtra

Mumbai: Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi today asked his party workers to strengthen the party base in Maharashtra and pitched for “better coordination” between the state government and party workers. “We are in alliance with NCP in Maharashtra. But Congress should strengthen itself in every district. There are some districts where we are strong but there are around 10-12 districts where we are weak. We should overcome this weakness,” he said. The 41-year old Congress leader was addressing partymen at the Indian Gymkhana in suburban Matunga here. “Whenever I go to places, where the Congress is in power, I receive complaints that there is no coordination between the party and the government. Here also, I receive similar complaints that ministers don’t do the work of party workers properly,” he said. [caption id=“attachment_291582” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=““If anyone has taken action against the corrupt, it is the Congress.” PTI”]  [/caption] “It is our family, hence there should be co-ordination between the government and party workers. There should be brotherhood, so as to work together. Because of this, the government as well as the party will become stronger,” a Congressman who attended the function, quoted Rahul as saying. Countering the attack by opposition on the issue of corruption, Rahul said: “If anyone has taken action against the corrupt, it is the Congress. “People are fighting against corruption. But Congress is the first party to bring in RTI,” he said. Taking a dig at BJP and Shiv Sena, he said “BJP or Shiv Sena did not bring RTI. We (Congress) brought major legislations like RTI, Right to Education (RTE), MNREGA, UIDAI, among others.” He also appealed to the partymen to spread the word among villagers about the work done by the Centre. Downplaying the price rise issue, Gandhi said “along with prices, incomes have also increased. The kind of money which people possess today wasn’t there with them earlier. We are trying to check price rise. The Prime Minister and the Finance Minister are working towards containing the price rise.” Gandhi also asked the state Congress in-charge Mohan Prakash and MPCC president Manikrao Thakre to take a stern action against those district presidents of the party “who are not serving the party to the fullest”. “Take action those district presidents who are not serving the party to the fullest but take those people forward who are working,” he said. Earlier, the AICC general secretary visited Chaityabhoomi, the memorial of BR Ambedkar in Dadar in central Mumbai where he was accompanied by Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, Thakre and Mohan Prakash. Rahul garlanded the statue of Ambedkar and lit a candle. PTI