Back from a fortnight-long trip to the US which reverberated politically in India, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi is set to hit the campaign trail in poll-bound Gujarat. He will embark on a three-day election yatra in the state on Monday, starting from Dwarka in Saurashtra region.
Gandhi is scheduled to start the campaign with a visit to the famed Dwarkadhish Temple, and over the next three days, he will travel the Saurashtra region in a specially designed bus, holding meetings with various groups of representatives, including farmers, traders, grassroot-level elected representatives and members of the Patidar community.
Having impressed all with his speeches in the US, in which he targetted Modi government and outlined his vision for the country and for the Congress, Gandhi, who is expected to take over as party president next month, would be looking to make an impact as an election campaigner in Gujarat.
Among the issues to be raised by him are problems faced by farmers, losses incurred by the trading community, unemployment and alleged government apathy towards the flood-hit people.
The Congress scion is scheduled to undertake four yatras in the state where he sounded the poll bugle on September 4 when he addressed a meeting of grassroot-level elected representatives of the party in Ahmedabad. Each yatra will span three to four days.
While in Saurashtra, Gandhi will move from Dwarka to Jamnagar and thereon to Rajkot, where he will visit the Khodaldham Temple, which is dedicated to a deity of the Patidars. He will interact with representatives of the Patidar community. On the last day, he will visit Surendranagar and then Viramgam. The Congress vice president is also expected to take part in Navratra celebrations. Saurashtra is important electorally as it sends one-third of the elected representatives to the state assembly. It is also the home turf of Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.
The Congress has been out of power in Gujarat for 19 years now and Gandhi has the tough job of getting the faction-ridden state unit of the party poll-ready.
The party is in the process of preparing its manifesto for the elections and is crowd sourcing ideas for it under a programme called 'Ichcha Tamari, Sankalp Hamaro' (Your wish, our commitment). Its campaign slogan 'Congress Aave Che, Navsarjan Lave Che' conveys the promise that the party will bring about a resurgence in Gujarat.
