On Raman Singh’s home turf, Rahul Gandhi to persuade voters

New Delhi: A day after Sonia Gandhi’s visit to Bastar in Chhattisgarh, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Friday was set to address an election rally in Kanker and Rajnandgaon, the constituency of Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh. The Congress hopes these visits will reinforce sympathy for party candidate Alka Mudiliyar, wife of former MLA Udai Mudiliyar who was one of the Congress leaders killed in Maoist ambush on May 25 at Darbha in Bastar.

Rahul’s visit to Chhattisgarh is part of his party’s strategy to woo voters in Singh’s home turf where the first of the two-phase polling will be held on November 11. Congress president Sonia Gandhi spoke in Kondangaon in Bastar region on Thursday. The Congress has planned to take up the strong fight collectively against the Chief Minister in his home turf”, said senior congress leader Ramesh Varllyani. BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, too, was in Kondangaon on Thursday and launched a blistering attack on the Congress while addressing a rally.

Addressing a largely tribal audience at Jagdalpur, Modi had said, “I salute the people of Chhattisgarh for rejecting Congress government. (AB) Vajpayeeji formed a separate ministry for tribals in Union cabinet, while Congress doesn’t care about the tribals. Why did Chhattisgarh progress while Uttarakhand and Jharkhand were left behind? Because Congress ruled the two states,” he said comparing them to BJP-ruled Chhattisgarh Sonia Gandhi, in her rally, accused the state government of failing to contain Maoist violence and curbing poverty in the state. She praised her party for “sacrifices” and “pro-poor” development policies.

Owing to their bad governance, poverty has risen in the mineral-resource rich state and its performance in health, education or other sectors has worsened.  The women are feeling unsafe and subjected to atrocities,” she said. Congress is desperately trying to make progress in Bastar, where tribals form a majority, as 11 of the 12 assembly seats in region are held by the BJP. The state goes to polls on November 11.

Bureau Report