Congress failed to raise issues of farmers, unemployment: Prithviraj Chavan

Pune, Dec 16 (PTI) Senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan on Tuesday said that the Congress failed to raise the issues related to farmers and unemployment, and could not highlight the lopsided development under the BJP government.

Talking to reporters here Chavan conceded that the Grand Old Party was facing problems.

He blamed Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for both the houses of the state legislature not having leaders of opposition. "It is in the CM's hands, but it seems they do not want to do it," said Chavan, himself a former chief minister.

"I accept that we are lacking. It is a fact," he said, noting that the party's numbers in the Assembly declined after the 2024 polls.

"However, my personal opinion is that the Congress should fight by taking up people's issues more aggressively. Programmes like the `Samvidhan Yatra' and `Tiranga Yatra' are fine, but these yatras largely see the participation of Congress workers, not the common people, especially the youth. We have failed to take people with us. We also failed to raise issues related to farmers and unemployment effectively," he said.

Development under the BJP government has been lopsided, but the Congress has not been able to highlight this imbalance, Chavan further said.

"The government's focus appears to be on constructing big highways, largely to earn commissions," said the former Union minister.

Chavan also reiterated his claim that the release of Epstein files in the US on December 19 will impact several countries including India as they include the names of three Indians `who are current and former MPs'. PTI SPK KRK