TRIBAL OUTREACH

RAHUL GANDHI will soon be back in the field with a theme, the party believes, that is imperative for the Congress’s identity. In a major tribal outreach programme, he will be travelling through the forests of central India and meet forest dwellers as part of his campaign against the government’s move to “dilute” the UPA’S showpiece Forest Rights Act. His first stop on August 6 will be Chintapalli near Visakhapatnam, where he will meet tribals fighting against bauxite mining in the area. Andhra Pradesh was perhaps chosen as the first destination as the party hopes to revive its fortunes in a state where it drew a blank in both the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. He will then travel to Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Telangana and Gujarat.