Ashok Chavan blames state leadership for Maha poll drubbing

Mumbai, Oct 19: Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan today blamed the state leadership for the drubbing received by Congress in the Assembly polls and dismissed the notion of any 'Modi wave'. "BJP has not won because there was some Modi wave here.

It all boils down to the anti-incumbency factor. Had the state leadership handled issues more responsibly, we would have been much better off than what we are today," he told PTI.

The Congress-NCP break up at the eleventh hour dented the image of both the parties in the mind of the electorate, he said. "We worked very hard for the welfare of our state in the last 15 years, but we failed to project our achievements and our development in front of the people. I wish the state leadership had handled the election issue carefully," said the Lok Sabha MP from Nanded.

Congress will start working on its revival plan without wasting any time, he said. "We will immediately go an analysis of our defects and shortcomings. Our strength and weakness coupled with the current political situation will be kept in mind while working towards our revival," said Chavan, one of the two MPs from Congress who won the Lok Sabha polls in the state. "For now, we can only very humbly accept the people's verdict," he added.

PTI