Tonk (Rajasthan): Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi will kick off her campaign for the Rajasthan Assembly elections from Niwai in Tonk district today. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge have already started campaigning from Banswara and Bhilwara but this will be Priyanka Gandhi's first meeting for the elections.
All the camps of Rajasthan Congress have come together to make Priyanka Gandhi's public meeting a success. Though till now only state Congress president Govind Singh Dotasara and Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot were actively involved in the preparations for the public meeting, now former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot has come forward to actively participate.
Priyanka Gandhi will address a public meeting on the premises of the Vivekananda Model School in Jhilae village in Tonk. Gehlot visited the venue last evening to check on the last minute arrangements. All leaders are taking stock of the preparations so as to ensure that the meeting is held successfully.
With Gehlot and Pilot on the forefront, the meeting will serve to project unity in the state Congress unit. Priyanka Gandhi will launch the state government's Indira Rasoi Rural scheme. Under the scheme, meals are offered at a subsidised rate of Rs 8. The scheme was earlier implemented in the urban areas and now it will be extended to the rural sector as well.
Rajasthan is set to go to the polls sometime later this year. In 2018, Congress formed the government with support of BSP and Independents after winning 99 seats while the BJP could manage only 73 seats.
The Congress is primarily attempting to maintain control on its strongholds where the party already has MLAs. To start with, Priyanka Gandhi is eyeing the 35 seats of Tonk, Sawai Madhopur, Jaipur and Ajmer. Among which, in the last assembly elections, Congress has 18 seats and 5 are with the Independents supporting Congress. The party's position in Tonk, Sawai Madhopur and Jaipur was strong in the last elections.
In Tonk, three of the four seats are held by Congress. Barring Malpura, the three seats of Tonk, Devli Uniara and Niwai have Congress MLAs. In Jaipur, out of 19 seats, 10 are held by Congress and three by Independents backed by Congress. The 10 seats held by Congress in Jaipur are Chaksu, Adarsh Nagar, Bagru, Civil Lines, Hawa Mahal, Jamwa Ramgarh, Jhotwara, Kishanpol, Kotputli, Virat Nagar and Bassi.
Priyanka Gandhi's campaign from Niwai assembly is expected to have an impact in the seats of Jaipur as well. In Sawai Madhopur, Congress has control over three out of four seats and in Ajmer, Congress has MLAs in two out of eight seats.
