Team Clarion
ALIBAG — Congress party, once influential in Maharashtra’s Konkan region and home to prominent leaders like former Chief Minister Abdul Rahman Antulay, is absent from the electoral race in this assembly election. With no seats allocated to the Congress under the Mahavikas Aghadi seat distribution, the party’s role is now limited to supporting its allies in the region, marking a significant shift in its standing.
Konkan has produced notable Congress figures, including Nana Sahib Kante, Govind Rao Nikam, Hussain Dalwai, and SB Sawant, whose contributions strengthened the party in Maharashtra. Yet, local leadership gaps and changing alliances have sidelined the Congress, with no candidates in Raigad, Ratnagiri, and Sindhudurg districts.
In Raigad, Congress leaders initially requested nominations in three out of the district’s seven assembly constituencies, but were unsuccessful. The situation in Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg mirrors this decline; no Congress candidate secured a seat in Ratnagiri’s five constituencies. Congress leader Avinash Lad, initially hoping to run from Rajapur, chose to stand as an independent after Shiv Sena (Uddhav) incumbent Rajan Salvi was nominated.
Sindhudurg’s Congress influence has weakened significantly since Narayan Rane’s shift to the BJP, leaving little leadership to advance the party. Across the 15 constituencies in Raigad, Ratnagiri, and Sindhudurg, Congress holds no seats.
This loss of representation has prompted mass resignations among Raigad Congress workers, who express disappointment after multiple electoral setbacks. A spokesperson stated, “We requested Congress tickets for the Lok Sabha and now for the assembly elections but received no support, leaving us no choice but to resign collectively.”
Over the past 20 years, the Congress influence in Raigad has gradually declined. In 2004, the party had four MLAs in the assembly, but the subsequent loss of leaders like Ramsheth Thakur and Prashant Thakur to the BJP, combined with the passing of stalwarts like Madhukar Thakur and Mankrao Jagtap, has left a leadership vacuum.
Without successors like barrister AR Antulay to reinvigorate the party, the Congress finds itself at a crossroads, struggling to maintain its relevance in Konkan, a region that once served as a stronghold.
