MUMBAI: The Maharashtra Congress has announced a series of preparatory meetings for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections across the state, officials said here on Wednesday.

The division-level meetings, starting from Thursday (January 18), are to be held against the backdrop of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra (BJNY) launched by party MP Rahul Gandhi, which will culminate in Mumbai later.

The first meeting for Vidarbha region, considered a party stronghold, will be held in Amravati on January 18, followed by Nagpur on January 20.

Later, on January 23 it will shift for western Maharashtra in Pune, on January 24 for Konkan region at Bhiwandi.

The attention will then focus on the North Maharashtra meeting at Dhule on January 27 and for Marathwada at Latur on January 29.

Top leaders, including AICC’s state in-charge Ramesh Chennithala, state Congress President Nana Patole, Congress Legislative Party Leader Balasaheb Thorat, Leader of Opposition in Assembly Vijay Wadettiwar, Working Presidents M. Arif Naseem Khan and Chandrakant Handore, all former CMs like Sushil kumar Shinde, Ashok Chavan, Prithviraj Chavan, heads of allied organisations like Mahila, youth wings, and others will be present at these brain-stormers in different divisions.

The Congress, which bagged two Lok Sabha seats in 2014 and later just one in 2019, is making all-out efforts to improve its tally, even as the seat-sharing talks with the Maha Vikas Aghadi are also said to be in the final stages with Nationalist Congress Party (SP), and Shiv Sena (UBT).