Congress chief Sonia Gandhi will be addressing a “kisan rally” in Gujarat in the second week of May following the party’s success in the local body elections last November.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi will be addressing a “kisan rally” in Gujarat in the second week of May following the party’s success in the local body elections last November. Mrs Gandhi is expected to address the rally in Saurashtra, sources said. The Congress is focusing on rural Gujarat after realising that it can regain lost ground in villages and among the downtrodden where the polarisation plank may not work effectively. The Congress made a stunning comeback in the rural areas of Gujarat where it won 21 of the 31 district panchayats and around 110 of the 230 taluka panchayats, while the BJP retained its hold over urban pockets, winning all six municipal corporations and 40 of 56 municipalities.
Congress managers are concentrating on Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, besides Gujarat, where the electoral battle has always been between the ruling BJP and the Opposition Congress. And in Maharashtra, a tactical alliance with like-minded parties could help it because the BJP there is seen as a pro-Vidarbha party. The Patel agitation for reservation, the absence of Mr Narendra Modi from the scene after becoming Prime Minister, and anti-incumbency could help the Sonia Gandhi-led party in the state if the local leaders and the state Congress revive the party’s fighting spirit, sources said.
