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Gujarat polls: In Cong’s star campaigner list, mix of young and old
While Saurashtra and the Tribal belts of south Gujarat have been strongholds of the Congress, the second phase is important as any gain in these areas can dent the BJP’s prospects
As the Gujarat assembly elections near, the Congress is gearing up by bringing some of its highest-ranked leaders to campaign in the second phase to take on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Congress released its list of star campaigners for the second phase on Saturday in which the party included Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Lok Sabha MP Rahul Gandhi, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and a host of senior leaders from Gujarat for campaigning.
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Congress has also named Ashok Gehlot, chief minister of Rajasthan, Bhupesh Baghel, chief minister of Chhattisgarh, party veterans including Digvijay Singh, senior leader Ramesh Chennithala, former chief ministers and senior Congress leaders Kamal Nath and Ashok Chavan among others who will campaign in Gujarat ahead of the state assembly elections.
The second phase will see polling in north and central Gujarat on 93 seats.
In the 40-member list, the party has also included some of its brightest young leaders such as former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot, newly-elected Rajya Sabha member Imran Pratapgarhi and Kanhaiya Kumar from Bihar as the star campaigners for the second phase of the Gujarat election.
According to the list released by Congress, former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, party veteran Tariq Anwar, Congress national spokesperson Pawan Khera, party’s prominent Dalit leader Udit Raj and Congress Punjab unit chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring are also scheduled to campaign in Gujarat.
The list also includes BK Hariprasad and Mohan Prakash, two of the central observers for the poll.
While Saurashtra and the Tribal belts of south Gujarat have been strongholds of the Congress, the second phase is important as any gain in these areas can dent the BJP’s prospects.
The Congress has been out of power in Gujarat since 1995 but defeating the BJP in this election remains an uphill task.
In the 2017 assembly elections, Congress bagged 77 seats in the assembly and kept the ruling BJP to under 100 in the 182-member House.
The state will go to polls on December 1 and 5 in two phases. The result will be out on December 8.
