Taking a break from the “Bharat Jodo Yatra”, Congress former president Rahul Gandhi will campaign for the party in Gujarat on Monday. This will be his first break from the yatra since it started. Rahul will be addressing one election rally each in Surat and Rajkot. The senior observer for Gujarat, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot would accompany Rahul Gandhi during his visit to the state.
The grand old party is working hard to consolidate its position in Gujarat. The BJP, at the same time, has already fielded heavyweights including Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the state. PM Modi is on a three-day visit to Gujarat. Congress is lagging behind the BJP in terms of campaign. But with the rallies of Rahul, the Congress’ campaign will gather steam. Changing the strategy, Congress is focussing on small public meetings instead of big rallies. After PM Modi, Rahul is also joining the campaign, following which the electoral battle will heat up.
Meanwhile, AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal is regularly visiting the state along with some party leaders. His party is ahead of Congress as far as campaigning is concerned. Congress is organising public meetings in rural areas in a bid to strengthen its hold in these pockets.
Congress strategists claim that the BJP is still weak in rural segments. Congress spokesperson Chayanika Uniyal says that the results in Gujarat will be surprising, as the party is gaining ground in rural pockets. The AAP which is confined to urban centres is cutting into BJP votes, from which Congress is benefiting, she explains.
In fact, in the last elections, Congress had given BJP a tough fight. If Mani Shankar Aiyar had not made objectionable comments, the party would have hit the jackpot there. It was Gehlot only who had prepared strategy for the Congress last time. This time round, the Rajasthan CM is working on a different strategy as a senior observer. Gradually, the Congress is inching close to a position where it will be posing a formidable challenge to BJP.
The party general secretaries Raghu Sharma and Mukul Wasnik are camping in Gujarat like other leaders. The work is going on as per Gehlot’s strategy. Rahul Gandhi, who was keeping himself away from the campaign so far, has now agreed to join it after request from Gehlot. Rahul was away from the polls in Himachal Pradesh. However, he stayed connected with Gujarat electioneering through tweets. Rahul Gandhi has already promised to implement the Gehlot government’s schemes in Gujarat also if the party comes to power there. These schemes include the old pension scheme, regularisation of temporary employees, the health insurance scheme, etc. He is likely to speak elaborately on these schemes during the rallies today. Congress is focussing on local issues, price rise, unemployment, etc. instead of targeting PM Modi.