Congress party’s former President Rahul Gandhi will address an election rally in Simdega on December 2, a press communiqué from the Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee (JPCC) said on Wednesday. This will be Gandhi’s first visit to Jharkhand since his resignation from the position of Congress president after the defeat in Lok Sabha polls earlier this year.
Gandhi, who had raised slogans of ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’ during his last public appearance in Simdega on May 2 and projected the party as custodian of tribal rights, has stayed away from the political happenings in Jharkhand since. Earlier, in the month of March, he addressed a rally in Ranchi’s Morhabadi Ground and won public applause for shaking a leg on tribal beats. “Rahulji will also seek votes for all the Mahagathbandhan candidates during his visit to Jharkhand and share the objectives of the Mahagathbandhan allies with the people of the State,” said JPCC Spokesperson Alok Dubey.
Star campaigners of the Congress party have been frequenting Jharkhand as the State readies to go to polls on November 30. On Wednesday, Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh Bhupesh Baghel addressed election rallies in Bhawanathpur and Daltonganj and asked the voters to scrutinise the works that the ruling Government claims to have done in the past five years. “It is time to objectively judge the work of the Government and see who all benefitted. Are farmers happier? Have villages witnessed development? How many new factories were set up and how have they affected the life of common people? All this and more needs to be scrutinised,” Baghel said.
Farmers are dying of hunger and qualified youth are roaming jobless in State, Baghel said, adding the people of Jharkhand need to take a decision for their betterment. JPCC incharge RPN Singh, who shared the stage with Baghel, accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of arrogance and fascism. “The Government is laced with corruption and believes in being arrogant. This arrogance will lead to their downfall,” he said.
The Congress party is contesting the elections here as a part of an alliance with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). The Congress party has fielded candidates for 31 of 81 seats here, while the JMM will contest 43 seats. RJD, as per the seat sharing equation of the allies, will contest the remaining seven seats.