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Rahul begins campaigning in poll-bound Meghalaya
Congress president Rahul Gandhi is expected to make two more visits to Meghalaya before elections, which will be held next month.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday began campaigning in Shillong, where the party stares at a tough fight with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and National People’s Party (NPP) in the Meghalaya assembly polls next month.
Christian-dominated Meghalaya is one of the four states in the country where the Congress is in power, along with Karnataka, Punjab and Mizoram.
Gandhi landed in Guwahati on Tuesday afternoon before heading to Shillong, from where he proceeded to Jowai in the Jaintia Hills to address a meeting of party leaders and workers.
The Congress president was accompanied by Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma and senior party office bearers.
Instead of addressing voters in public rallies, Gandhi is expected to participate in a series of meetings with party workers, religious heads and chiefs of various traditional institutions during the trip.
“The highlight of his visit will be a musical festival showcasing Meghalaya’s cultural diversity,” said a senior Congress office bearer.
Unlike Gandhi, the BJP organised a rally in Shillong by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month, when he urged voters to topple the Congress government.
Seven Congress legislators have quit the party. Five of them joined the NPP while two others moved to the BJP and the newly formed People’s Democratic Front.
Gandhi is expected to make two more visits to the state in the next few weeks, when he will address public rallies, Congress leaders said.
