New Delhi: The Congress will highlight Rahul Gandhi’s “Tapasya” factor in undertaking the nationwide yatra, ahead of his Nov 22 rallies in Gujarat. “No other Indian or world leader has ever undertaken such a yatra for a social cause. It is a matter of pride for the Congress party that our leader is doing such a massive foot march. A lot of party leaders want this fact to be flagged ahead of the Nov 22 rallies,” AICC secretary in charge of Gujarat BM Sandeep Kumar told ETV Bharat.
Rahul, who had skipped the Himachal Pradesh poll campaign, will address two rallies in the Saurashtra and southern regions of Gujarat on Nov 22 to dispel the notion that he had left out the key western state. Rahul, who is leading the Bharat Jodo Yatra, completed around 1,800 km on Nov 14, according to party insiders.
As he walks around 23-25 km per day, by Nov 22 the leader would have clocked around 2,000 km of the total 3,500 km Kanyakumari to Kashmir route. The Gujarat rallies have been scheduled on an off day for the yatra, which would be in Madhya Pradesh by the third week of November.
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According to party strategists, the Gujarat voters need to be reminded that Rahul has undertaken the nationwide yatra to flag public issues like social harmony, economy and power decentralization and is not doing it for electoral gains. Hence, a build-up campaign over the next week would be conducted which will allow the party managers to remind the Gujarat voters that before starting the yatra Sep 7, Rahul had visited Mahatma Gandhi’s Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad on Sep 5.
The Saurashtra and south Gujarat regions come under phase 1 polling on Dec 1 and the locations of Rahul’s rallies are being finalized keeping in mind the logistics, party sources say. “With Rahul, a lot of security detail also moves. Then, our central and state leaders besides and workers also have to be mobilized. As we have to adjust two rallies in a day, all such arrangements need a lot of planning,” said a senior AICC functionary.
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Among the two rallies, the one in south Gujarat is being planned in the Tribal hub of Navsari at a semi-urban set up. Over the past months, Navsari has been an epicenter of Tribal protests, being spearheaded by the Congress to woo the community votes, which influence around 40 assembly seats. PM Modi, who spent 9 days in Gujarat last month, has done three rallies in southern Gujarat, including one at Navsari, to send out a message that the BJP cares for the Tribals.
“There are a host of issues that the Congress is raising in this election but certainly the former party chief is expected to touch upon the plight of the Tribals and the charge-sheet that we have prepared against the state government. He is likely to tell the voters why they should vote for the Congress,” said former Gujarat unit chief Amit Chavda.
