Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi will address a public meeting in Jaipur in poll-bound Rajasthan on September 23. This will be the first rally of the Congress leaders after Parliament passed the Women’s Reservation Bill.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is pulling out all the stops to make the rally a big success, as the event will mark the formal launch of the election campaign by the grand old party. Before the rally, Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi will lay the foundation stone of the new Congress state headquarters in the Mansarovar area.
The Congress leaders are expected to spell out the party’s strategy to be adopted even as the women’s reservation bill is set to be law soon. All eyes will be on this issue as the BJP has already started preparation to use it for maximum mileage in the upcoming assembly elections.
However, Congress is sparing no effort to claim credit for the women’s quota bill, but also Congress leaders are demanding a separate quota for OBC women. So it will be interesting to see whether Congress leaders focus on the state government’s achievements or the reservation issue.
CM Gehlot is confident to retain power in Rajasthan after the November polls, on the grounds of his schemes. PM Modi will also address a rally two days after the Congress’ event. In other words, the Congress rally will mark the launching of the election campaign on Saturday. A team of the Election Commission is expected to visit Rajasthan by the end of this month, and the model codes of conduct are likely to be in place in the second week of October. Because of this, the Gehlot government has fast-tracked its projects and schemes. As of now, Congress is ahead of its opponents in Rajasthan. Congress’ rallies are drawing huge crowds as well. But the party’s future strategy on the women’s quota will be an important move to watch out for. Both the Congress and the BJP have completed the process of discussion on candidate selection. The last round of finalising the names will take place soon. Both parties will release the lists of candidates after the code of conduct comes into force. Ticket-seekers will be expected to gather crowds for the rallies by then.
