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Gujarat Congress leaders meet Rahul Gandhi in Delhi; discuss 2022 assembly polls, appointment of new state chief
Rahul Gandhi met with the state unit’s senior leaders and sought their opinions on the appointment of a state Congress chief and leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP).
With the assembly polls scheduled later next year in Gujarat, Congress leaders from the state, on Friday, met party leader Rahul Gandhi in Delhi and held “strategic discussions” regarding the elections. The party’s general secretary KC Venugopal and Gujarat in-charge Raghu Sharma were also present during the meeting.
“Today in New Delhi, senior leaders of the Gujarat Congress, met with Rahul Gandhi and had strategic discussions with him in view of the upcoming assembly elections,” Raghu Sharma said in a tweet in Hindi.
Further, Gandhi also met with the state unit’s senior leaders and sought their opinions on the appointment of a state Congress chief and leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP), news agency PTI reported. He also discussed with the leaders on strengthening the party’s organisation in Gujarat and sought their opinions regarding the same.
Among the state leaders, Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee Amit Chavda and the party’s working president Hardik Patel were present in the delegation that met Gandhi. Amid the meeting, the Congress party also said that the state of Gujarat was ready for a change.
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The meeting came as the Congress is looking for a new face as the leader for the Gujarat unit. Earlier, the previous Gujarat Congress president Chavda and the CLP leader Paresh Dhanani resigned from their posts. Also, the party suffered a major defeat in the recently concluded civic body elections for the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation (GMC) winning only two out of the total 44 seats. While the Bharatiya Janata Party won 41 seats, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), contesting for the first time, won the remaining one seat.
Earlier this month, the party had appointed Raghu Sharma as the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge of Gujarat, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, according to an order from the party.
Meanwhile, Gujarat Congress working president Hardik Patel and Rajya Sabha MP Shaktisinh Gohil seem to be the front runners for the party chief’s position, news agency ANI reported citing people familiar with the development.
