Maharashtra Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal on Sunday, 13 September launched a sharp broadside against Union Home Minister Amit Shah's two-day visit to the state, dismissing the Seva Sankalp Abhiyan — a service resolve campaign scheduled from 17 September to 17 October — as a cover for political and financial interests, particularly targeting Mumbai, the country's financial capital.

Congress Calls Out the Campaign

Addressing reporters following Shah's announcement of the month-long initiative, Sapkal argued that the campaign is not a genuine public welfare drive but what he described as a tool to 'settle accounts of corruption.' He insisted that if Shah truly intends to serve Maharashtra's people, concrete relief measures — not symbolic campaigns — must follow.

'If Union Home Minister Amit Shah genuinely wishes to serve the people of Maharashtra, he must immediately announce a full farm loan waiver and ₹50,000 per hectare compensation. Otherwise, this visit is nothing more than a political gimmick to settle accounts of corruption,' Sapkal asserted.

Farmers in Distress: Congress Demands Immediate Relief

Sapkal pointed to a severe drought-like situation and widespread agrarian distress gripping several parts of Maharashtra, calling on the Centre to act without delay. He demanded a complete loan waiver for all affected farmers across the state and an allocation of ₹50,000 per hectare for those suffering significant crop losses — conditions he said must be met before Shah's visit can be viewed as anything beyond optics.

The agrarian crisis in Maharashtra has been a persistent flashpoint, with multiple opposition parties accusing the ruling MahaYuti alliance — comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena (Shinde faction), and the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction) — of inadequate response to rural distress.

Land Transfers and Kumbh Mela Funds Under Scrutiny

Broadening his attack, Sapkal questioned the intent behind what he called a high-profile, carefully orchestrated visit. He accused the MahaYuti government of transferring valuable public land to industrialists and sought accountability over the allocation of public funds, including expenditures linked to the Kumbh Mela.

These allegations, critics argue, point to a larger pattern of the opposition seeking financial transparency from the ruling coalition ahead of local and eventual state-level electoral cycles.

RSS and BJP Ideology in the Crosshairs

Sapkal also expanded his critique to encompass the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), calling the organisation's recent 'liberal' public posture 'duplicate' and insincere. He claimed the RSS maintains a questionable stance on the Indian Constitution and the national flag, arguing that its core ideology — as articulated in former Sangh chief M.S. Golwalkar's book Bunch of Thoughts — contradicts this outward moderation.

He also highlighted what he described as a contradiction between the BJP-RSS's domestic posture toward minority communities and Prime Minister Narendra Modi accepting top civilian honours from more than 10 Islamic nations abroad. Sapkal demanded that RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat issue a direct public clarification on the organisation's stated views on the Constitution, minority communities, and its broader political agenda.

What Comes Next

The Seva Sankalp Abhiyan is set to run through 17 October, and the BJP has positioned it as a grassroots outreach initiative. However, with the Congress mounting a sustained counter-narrative around farmer relief and institutional accountability, Shah's Maharashtra visit is likely to remain a contested political moment well beyond its stated timeline.