New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi skipped the Himachal Pradesh campaign as he is leading the Bharat Jodo Yatra but the party managers are exploring the opportunity of him leading rallies in Gujarat to counter the perception that the former party chief is neglecting the western state.
“Rahul Gandhi will address rallies in Gujarat. The dates are being worked out,” AICC secretary in charge of Gujarat BM Sandeep Kumar told ETV Bharat.
According to sources, Gandhi may address at least one rally each for both the phases of polling on Dec 1 and 5, and he may even address two rallies a day if needed, adding that the rallies would likely be planned after November 20, when the campaigning would be at its peak.
“Rahul’s yatra is attracting a lot of public attention and generating goodwill for the party. It would be good to use this sentiment for gains in Gujarat," said a senior AICC functionary.
The Gujarat polls are significant because it is the home state of both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who are investing huge resources and energy to save the government of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel.
The BJP has been in power in the western state for 27 years and is facing a huge anti-incumbency, which has made Congress bet big on the assembly polls.
According to party insiders, if the BJP loses Gujarat, the results could set a negative trend for it ahead of the 2024 General polls. If the Congress wins, it will provide a major boost to the grand old party’s pitch for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, they said.
Also read: Congress releases party manifesto for Gujarat Assembly Polls 2022
Keeping that in mind, the Congress had earlier worked on a silent campaign by reaching out to the voters on a door-to-door basis.
The party launched state-wide yatras and assembly-wise rallies from October 31 to November 7 to make its presence felt.
During this period, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, who is AICC observer for the polls, did several rallies while former Finance Minister P Chidambaram did a presser in Ahmedabad to take on the ruling BJP.
Yet, the grand old party had to regularly deal with a perception created by its rivals that the western state was not on the priority list of the former Congress chief.
To counter the negative perception, the party’s communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh had recently explained to the voters in Gujarat that the route of the South to North India Bharat Jodo Yatra was planned in such a manner that the western state could not be included in it.
He, however, had pointed out that Rahul had visited the Sabarmati Ashram of Mahatma Gandhi on Sep 5, two days before starting the yatra from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu on Sep 7.
Old timers recalled how Rahul led an aggressive campaign in 2017 polls and took the Congress to 77/182 seats, which was close to the halfway mark of 92, while bringing the BJP down to 99.
“The BJP has been losing seats over the past few assembly polls. We are confident that the Congress will go beyond the 2017 tally and form a government this time,” former CLP leader Paresh Dhanani said.
