New Delhi : Congress’ top campaigners Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi will focus on the Chambal region of Madhya Pradesh where they will campaign for party nominees in Bhind on April 30 and Morena on May 2 respectively.
“Rahul Gandhi will address a rally in Bhind on April 30. Priyanka Gandhi will address a rally in Morena on May 2. The Chambal region is very important for us where we are putting up a strong campaign,” AICC in charge of Madhya Pradesh Jitendra Singh told ETV Bharat.
On April 21, Rahul Gandhi was supposed to address a rally in MP’s Satna parliamentary seat but had to cancel his visit as he was unwell. In his place, party chief Mallikarjun Kharge addressed the rally in favour of party nominee Siddhartha Kushwaha who was pitted against BJP’s Ganesh Singh.
In Bhind, the Congress has fielded sitting MLA from Bhandar Phool Singh Baraiya who is pitted against BJP’s sitting MP Sandhya Ray. In Morena, Congress’ Satyapal Singh Sikarwar is pitted against BJP’s Shiv Mangal Singh Tomar.
The grand old party was hopeful of winning the state elections but could not. However, it had performed better in the Morena area.
Now the party is focusing on reversing the 2019 trend in which the Congress could win only one out of 29 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
“We will win several seats this time. There will be no sweep for the BJP,” said Jitendra Singh.
According to party insiders, the Congress in confident of winning seats like Chhindwara, where Nakul Nath son of former chief minister Kamal Nath is contesting, Rajgarh where former chief minister Digvijay Singh is contesting, Mandla where party has fielded veteran Omkar Markam is pitted against BJP’s Faggan Singh Kulaste and Shahdol where Congress nominee Phundelal Marko is pitted against BJP’s Himadri Singh, among others.
“In the Lok Sabha polling so far, polling percentage has been lower than the past national elections. Particularly, the percentage of women voters has come down as compared to the assembly polls. This could mean trouble for the BJP,” AICC secretary in charge of Madhya Pradesh CP Mittal told ETV Bharat.
“Our leaders will keep the focus on jobs, education, women’s safety and plight of farmers, which are the issues affecting the people,” he said.
After losing the 2023 assembly polls, the Congress had changed the state team bringing in Jitu Patwari as state unit chief and Umang Singhar as CLP leader.
The Congress managers said the local unit had been able to regroup within months of losing the state elections and is putting up a strong show.
“Senior state leaders are regularly addressing voters across the seats highlighting the benefits of the party manifesto. The voters are upset with the state government as they have not kept their promises. People are talking about our promises of jobs and loan waivers,” senior leader Shobha Oza said.
“We are supporting the Khajuraho Forward Bloc candidate RB Prajapati after the nomination of INDIA bloc candidate Mira Yadav was rejected on flimsy grounds,” she said.
Read More
