Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who is currently leading the Bharat Jodo Yatra, will join the party’s campaign for the Gujarat Assembly polls, but will altogether skip the battle of Himachal Pradesh.
Sources said the former Congress chief may take breaks from the Bharat Jodo Yatra currently touring Maharashtra and conduct road shows in Gujarat. The party is working out Rahul’s detailed schedules.
Sources said Rahul is satisfied with the work done by Priyanka Gandhi and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel in the Himalayan state and hence would skip the campaign in Himachal Pradesh.
Sources said Rahul will not do any rallies or public meetings in Gujarat and mainly focus on road shows.
In between the fortnight long padyatra in Maharashtra, Rahul will take breaks and visit Gujarat at least twice. Depending on the need, he may take a third trip to the poll-bound State just before the polls. Gujarat will vote on December 1 and 5.
Claiming that the party was headed towards a two-thirds majority in Himachal, Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala said Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur would have difficulty in winning his own seat.
In the absence of Rahul during the campaign in Himachal, Surjewala said the party was fighting the Assembly polls under a collective leadership and the victory of the party would be the victory of each
Congress person.
He added Rahul will be here when the Congress Government will be formed in Himachal Pradesh.
Asked about Priyanka being the face of the party in the elections in the hill State, Surjewala said, “She is our national leader and is spearheading the campaign. All other senior leaders are campaigning. Ours is a collective leadership.”
The star campaigners for HP are Sonia Gandhi, newly appointed Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyanka Gandhi, Ashok Gehlot, Baghel, and Anand Sharma.
Assembly polls in Himachal Pradesh will be held in one phase and polling of votes will take place on November 12 and the counting of votes will be done on December 8 along with the counting for Gujarat.
Canvassing for his party in Gujarat, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Tuesday attacked the BJP government at the Centre, saying thousands of crores of rupees are being spent on “vanity projects” such as the new Parliament building in Delhi and the country’s first bullet train connecting Ahmedabad and Mumbai.
The former Finance Minister advised the Congress in Gujarat to stay away from such vanity projects and focus on helping the poor and spend money on improving education and healthcare facilities if voted to power in the next month’s Assembly elections.