Mumbai, Oct 11 : Former union minister and senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram on Saturday it is extremely unfortunate that within the last three weeks a number of people have rubbished Maharashtra's achievements and urged the people to respond aggressively to such unwarranted statements.

"Maharashtra is amongst the leading states in India. In fact, on many parameters this is the number one state. It's unfortunate and sad that in the last two or three weeks a number of people have rubbished Maharashtra's achievements. Such statements are not only unfortunate but also condemnable in strongest terms," Chidambaram said during a press conference here.

"People should respond aggressively to such baseless and unwarranted statements," he added.

Chidambaram urged the people to vote for the Congress in the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections.

"I am here to appeal to the people of Maharashtra to repose their faith in the Congress party and vote for Congress candidates to form the government. The Congress has been in power for 15 years and in these years Maharashtra has maintained its leadership," he said.

"The main political parties this time are contesting on their own and this is in a way a blessing in disguise, every party can field its candidates in all the seats and give opportunity to more men and women," he added.

The election for 288-member Maharashtra Assembly is scheduled to be held on October 15 while the results will be counted on October 19. (ANI)