Ahmadabad: The Congress is
all set to launch its election campaign in Gujarat with a farmers' rally in Rajkot which would be
addressed by Congress President Sonia Gandhi
on October 2. The party hopes to benefit from Gujarat Parivartan Party, a
breakaway faction of the BJP headed by former chief minister Keshubhai Patel
who can draw sizeable Patel votes and upset BJP's applecart.
Saurashtra has been a BJP stronghold since two decades
backed by Patel votes. The ruling BJP secured 35 seats in 2007 assembly
elections sparing 14 for Congress and one for NCP. However, the delimitation of
assembly seats has changed the voter dynamics. Now, the number of
representatives from Saurashtra region has dropped from 59 to 48, according to
a data provided by the office of chief electoral officer of Gujarat.
Sonia Gandhi who will address rallies in Rajkot and Jetpur will seek to remind farmers
that it was the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government that
waived their debt worth Rs 70,000 crore in 2008. It hopes that this would
strike a chord with local farmers who saw their crop dry down during the kharif
season. Gujarat received scanty rains in July
and August leading to the state government declaring 123 talukas of 14
districts as drought-affected.
Congress is banking heavily on votes from rural areas. The
party also believes that the active involvement of Keshubhai Patel by launching
Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP) would benefit Congress.
Sonia Gandhi's visit to the state is also likely to boost
the morale of Congress party cadres and workers in the state. The 'Gharnu Ghar'
scheme for urban women announced by the Congress has already put Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi on the defensive.
This article
is posted by pressbrief.in/
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