Rahul kicks off election campaign

Attends music fest in Shillong, lauds Sangma govt for launching social audit bill

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday kicked- off election campaign in Congress- ruled Meghalaya by addressing a meeting of party workers and supporters at Jowai in Jaintia Hills. Mr Gandhi, who interacted with party workers and supporters in Shillong, also attended the music concert “Celebrate Peace and Way of Life”, a celebration of Meghalaya’s music, culture and way of life of the people of the state on Tuesday night.

“My family and I have had a special bond with the people of the North East and I enjoy renewing and strengthening that bond with every visit. # OneMeghalaya,” he tweeted

Election to the 60- member Meghalaya Assembly will be held on February 27.

Mr Gandhi’s visit to Meghalaya is also significant because the ruling Congress has suffered a major setback in the runup to the Assembly elections with over 115 members of the party from two constituencies of the state resigning this week in protest against the candidates nominated by the party.

“I am here to tell you that the Congress party is going to work together. We will protect your languages and tribal customs. We are not going to allow the imposition of one idea,” a senior Congress leader quoting Mr Gandhi as saying at the party meeting here.

Mr Gandhi also lauded the Mukul Sangma government in the state for launching the social audit bill and stated that Meghalaya is one of the few states that provides universal healthcare.

The Congress president, who arrived on Tuesday, travelled by road to Jowai, the district headquarters of West Jaintia Hills, about 60 km from Meghalaya’s capital Shillong, to drum up support for his party candidates in the seven Assembly constituencies. However, his Tura visit was cancelled due to security reasons. Special Protection Group had refused to allow him to travel to Tura due to issues with the chopper provided to him

“Our party president’s visit to Tura was postponed for now because the Special Protection Group ( SPG) has rejected the Pawan Hans chopper available to fly him to Tura due to its age factor,” said Congress MP Vincent Pala.