With the Maharashtra state assembly elections slated for October, all major political parties are hitting the road with yatras for mass outreach.Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar launched the Jan Samaan Yatra on Thursday to reach out to all sections of society and build a solid voter base for the upcoming state assembly elections. In the Lok Sabha elections, the Ajit-led NCP contested five seats but won only one, with his wife Sunetra Pawar losing to Supriya Sule, the daughter of Sharad Pawar, in the Baramati Lok Sabha election by over 1.5 lakh votes.The Maharashtra Deputy CM faces credibility and existential issues following a dismal showing in the LS polls. He has turned to a major publicity firm to revitalise the party base in order to secure a significant number of seats in the state assembly and maintain his political relevance.The first phase of Ajit’s yatra will be in Nashik, North Maharashtra, followed by Western Maharashtra, Mumbai, and Vidarbha. He is expected to cover more than 40 state assembly segments during this tour.Meanwhile, former Union Minister Sharad Pawar, leading the NCP (SP), has also announced the ‘Shiv Rajya Yatra’ under the leadership of the party’s Lok Sabha MP Amol Kolhe and NCP (SP) state president Jayant Patil.Notably, the NCP (SP) won eight out of 10 Lok Sabha seats with a striking rate of 80 percent. This has allowed Sharad Pawar the opportunity to consolidate his party base and instill confidence that they will win as many seats as possible in the state assembly and return to power.Similarly, his alliance partner and former Maharashtra CM, Uddhav Thackeray, has decided to arrange the Shiv Sankalp Melava across the state to directly connect with workers and the masses. The Shiv Sena (UBT) chief recently addressed such programs in Pune and Sambhaji Nagar and is likely to hold more mass outreach events to help his party win as many seats as possible in the state assembly. In the Lok Sabha, Sena (UBT) won seven seats out of a total of 21 contested in Maharashtra, and Uddhav aims to use this momentum not only to regain lost ground but also to make inroads into other areas by strengthening his party base.Meanwhile, Prakash Ambedkar, leading the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, has also started the ‘Save Reservations’ Yatra across the state.
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