Facing criticism due to his absence from intense election campaigns due to his fortnight-long visit abroad, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi returned to the country on Monday morning and on Tuesday conducted election-related meetings to review the party's election strategy in Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur, which go to polls next month along with crucial Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.
AICC sources said Rahul held meetings with senior leaders KC Venugopal and P Chidambaram and reviewed the party's preparations and strategy for polls in Goa and other States. He will review the poll strategy for Punjab and UP during the next couple of days.
The grand old party is fighting to wrest power from the BJP in Uttarakahand, Manipur and also eyeing a good number in Uttar Pradesh, while confident to retain power in Punjab. The party's central election committee will also meet soon to finalise the candidates for the assembly elections in the five states while it has already announced some candidates for Goa while it announced the Manifesto and Campaign committee for Punjab on Tuesday.
Rahul had left for abroad during the year end only to return last night after a lot of resentment brewed within the party soon after the dates of the assembly elections were announced by Election Commission on Saturday last.
As per his original scheduled, AICC sources said that Rahul was to return by this weekend and in between his visit also cost the party the launch of Punjab campaign from Moga which was rescheduled for January 15 and then cancelled as his return was to be delayed.
Congress, which has a tie-up with the Goa Forward Party, is also eyeing an alliance with other Opposition parties in the state to ensure its victory. The Trinamool Congress, which recently took into its fold a number of Congress leaders, had also indicated that all Opposition forces should unite against the BJP particularly in the poll bound Goa where the Congress has put in high stakes.
Rahul Gandhi is understood to have discussed the possibility of an alliance with Mamata Banerjee's party in Goa and amid the buzz that the meeting between Rahul and Venugopal discussed the possible tie-up, senior party leader Dinesh R Gundu Rao said, "No alliance or talks with the Trinamool Congress is happening. Despite efforts by the TMC, the Congress has made it clear that the whole approach and attempt of the TMC - right from Day One - in Goa has been negative and aimed at attacking the Congress, instead of the BJP “.
Venugopal on his part after the meeting tweeted that his party is "confident - we will put Goa back on the path to progress soon".
TMC is one of the fresh entrants in the coastal state where, among other contenders, Arvind Kejriwal's AAP is also trying to win big in the state elections. Mamata who had gone vocal against the Congress a couple of months ago has already tied up with the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) of Sudhin Dhavalikar, a party that the BJP had dumped in 2019, to fight the polls.
In the last assembly polls Congress had emerged as the single largest party by winning 17 seats in the 40-member house but BJP managed to form the government.
The party also constituted the Punjab Congress Manifesto Committee and Campaign Committee with not very long time ago rebel leader Pratap Singh Bajwa as chairman of the manifesto committee with a total of 19 members including Dr Amar Singh as the convener and Manpreet Badal as the co-chairman. At the same time, Lok Sabha MP Sunil Jakhar has been made the chairman of the campaign committee.
It includes a total of 25 leaders in which 21 have been made members. Another Lok Sabha MP Ravneet Singh has been made the convener and Amarpreet Singh Lalli as co-chairman. Voting for all 117 seats in Punjab will be held on February 14 while the counting of votes will take place on March 10 with all the five states.