Mumbai, Jul 15 (IANS): The All India Mahila Congress (AIMC) President Alka Lamba cracked the whip on the Maharashtra women party workers to start working for the upcoming October assembly elections with the same vigour as the last Lok Sabha elections, here on Monday.

Addressing the Maharashtra Mahila Pradesh Congress executive committee, in the presence of the state party president Sandhya Savvaakhe, Lamba said that women constitute 50 per cent of the electorate and play an important political role in the elections.

“Maharashtra had halted the Bharatiya Janata Party’s chariot in the LS elections… This state showed the courage to stop them in their tracks and it sent a warning to the ‘double-engine’ government here. Now, you must all further strengthen the party, give time and start the work for the Assembly elections,” urged Lamba.

Emphasising the significance of modern-day advanced technological tools, she said that social media enables your voice to reach millions in a matter of seconds anywhere in the world, and it must be exploited to create awareness of the party’s policies and promises for the assembly polls.

“The elections are barely a couple of months away… in Maharashtra and some other states. At least one woman head should be appointed for each polling centre here. All women activists must work in full strength and ensure bringing the Congress back to power,” appealed Lamba.

The AIMC Chief also expressed concerns over the growing incidence of violence against women, tortures, injustice, rape and murder cases and said that the women Congress activists should become the voice of their sisters in distress.

Addressing the meeting, Savvalakhe assured that those women who have done good work for the party should be considered while distributing tickets for the upcoming civic bodies and assembly elections in the state.

“If we work proactively, with the same zeal and enthusiasm as in the LS polls, nobody can stop us from returning to power in the state,” declared Savvalakhe.

This was the second in the series of pre-assembly polls preparatory meetings held by the Congress, preceded by the Indian Youth Congress meet held here last week, and more shall follow in the coming weeks, said a Congress office-bearer.