New Delhi: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi kickstarted the party’s campaign in Gujarat by addressing a rally in Narmada district. After landing in Gujarat, Rahul headed to the Panduri Mata temple for darshan. After paying respects, he headed to the rally grounds. Accompanying him was political secretary to the Congress president Ahmed Patel, general secretary and in-charge of Gujarat Ashok Gehlot, senior Congress leader Shankersinh Vaghela and Gujarat Congress chief Bharatsinh Solanki.
Mr Rahul Gandhi hit out at the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for overlooking the tribals. He said “These lands, water, forests belong to you people, the tribals of Gujarat, not them, who are ruling and dominating the state. The RSS and the BJP do not respect tribals. They want to enslave tribals as domestic maids in urban areas.” Tribals in the state constitute almost 15% of the population while they are a decisive force in almost 41 out of the 142 seats of the Gujarat Assembly.
In the upcoming Assembly election of Gujarat, slated to be held in December this year, the Congress wants to aggressively woo the influential Patidar community. Patidars constitute almost 24 per cent of the population and are influential in the state. In 2015, there was a huge agitation against the BJP government by the Patidars, leading them was the 23 year old Hardik Patel. Rahul even reached out to the Patidars in his speech. He said “”Patidar youth told me that entire education sector is controlled by 10-15 people close to Narendra Modi. In Vibrant Gujarat, nobody excepts those people and they have not got any real benefits.”
The Congress vice-president also chided the Prime Minister on his Mann Ki Baat programme. He added “The Congress does not believe in just telling our own Mann ki Baat, as we believe in listening to people. When our government will be formed here, we will listen to the people first and then work accordingly.”
The Congress has been out of power in Gujarat for more than two decades now and is looking for a comeback. But much to the chagrin of the state unit, the high command is yet to announce a chief minister face.
