Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi will kick off his party's campaign for the 2022 assembly elections in Uttarakhand with a public rally in Dehradun on December 16. The event is being planned particularly as an outreach to the armed forces and their kin in a state that has a strong military tradition.
Preparations are on for the rally titled 'Sainik Vijay Samman Divas', to be held at Dehradun's Parade Ground. Sitting and former legislators from the state and at the central level have been asked to ensure that the attendance at the event is better than that witnessed in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally held in the state capital on December 4.
The rally will celebrate the 50th Vijay Diwas, which commemorates India's victory over Pakistan in 1971. It will have participation by 1971 war veterans and other armed forces veterans.
According to party sources, on the occasion, Rahul will also pay homage to former chief of defence staff General Bipin Rawat and the other armed forces personnel who perished along with him in a helicopter crash on December 8. Rawat hailed from Pauri district of Uttarakhand and was a popular figure in the state.
Uttarakhand goes to polls in February 2022 and the rally will effectively kick off the party's campaign. Most families in the state have at least one member in the armed forces or in the paramilitary and the state boasts of a large number of veterans. The issues pertaining to those in the service, the veterans and their kin are an important part of election discourse in the state.
At a time when the ruling BJP has appropriated the theme of nationalism, Rahul's rally and other events planned by the Congress to commemorate the 1971 war aim at stressing on the grand old party's nationalistic credentials. An important element of the planned events will be the focus on the role played by former prime minister Indira Gandhi during the 1971 war.
