Even as infighting in the Mumbai Congress reaches a peak, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi is preparing to address two meetings in the city on Friday. During his two-day visit, he will also hold a padayatra on Saturday which starts from Bandra Bandstand and ends at Dharavi. Also on the agenda is an interaction with management students on Saturday morning.

Announcing the schedule, Sanjay Nirupam said, “Mr Gandhi will address a party workers’ meet at 2 pm on Friday in Malad. AICC general secretary in-charge of the party’s affairs in Maharashtra, Mohan Prakash, and Maharashtra Pradesh Congress chief, Ashok Chavan, will also be present at the meeting.”

As per the schedule announced by Mumbai Congress, Mr Gandhi will later visit the office of Mumbai Congress Regional Committee “Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan” at Azad Maidan. There, he will inaugurate the Murli Deora Hall and meet and address party workers in the presence of AICC general secretary Gurudas Kamat.

On Saturday, Mr Gandhi will travel back to the suburbs and interact with management students of Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies,

Juhu-Vile Parle.Mr Nirupam said that after this, Mr Gandhi will embark on the padayatra along with hundreds of Congress workers. The padayatra will start from Bandra Bandstand through Lilavati Reclamation- Mahim Causeway Raheja Hospital, end at Dharavi 90 feet Road.

According to Congress sources, Mr Gandhi’s visit is aimed at rejuvenating party cadres and preparing them to work for the all-important BMC elections scheduled to take place in 2017.

In the interim, for the past few days, two factions of MRCC led by Mr Nirupam and Mr Kamat have been at loggerheads after reports of defamatory articles on Jawahalal Nehru and Sonia Gandhi published in MRCC mouthpiece “Congress Darshan” appeared in the media. Mr Nirupam, who is also the editor of the magazine, has apologised for the articles. However, he thinks that Kamat group has been trying to keep the issue alive in order to target him.