Guj Cong gears up for Rahul show

Party vicepresident to embark on a 12day yatra across state; to go for another round of canvassing later in year

NEW DELHI: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has decided to maximise his time in pollbound Gujarat to woo the voters in the run-up to the assembly elections.

He will campaign extensively across the BJP-ruled state for three days in the last week of September and nine days in the first fortnight of October.

This is second time in his political career that the Congress vice-president will undertake such an extensive campaign in any state. The 47-yearold had spent about 25 days in two months, September and October last year, in Uttar Pradesh for this year’s state assembly elections.

Gandhi will kick-off his 12-day ‘Jan Samvad Yatra’ in Saurashtra region from Dwarka on September 25.

The party has divided the state into four zones for the yatra. While he will travel across north Gujarat from October 4 to 6, the central part of the state will be covered by the leader from October 9 to 11.

The Congress vice-president will then take his yatra to south Gujarat from October 14 to 16.

Gandhi's programme was finalised at a meeting of state Congress leaders on Monday.

He is expected to return to the country from his two-week United States tour on September 22-23.

The Congress is hoping for a turnaround in Gujarat this time with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fighting the upcoming assembly elections under a new leadership.

Many Gujarat Congress leaders are of the view that the polls are the best opportunity for the party to oust the BJP from power after about 19 years.

However, recent visits by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah to their home state have already set the tone for the BJP’s campaign.

After the estensive yatra, the Congress is also preparing another round of an exhaustive campaign programme for Gandhi ahead of the assembly elections, scheduled to be held in December this year.