Bhopal, October 7 : Ahead of the impending Madhya Pradesh assembly elections in November, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are set to hold separate public rallies in the state. The announcement was made by a senior party official.
Rahul Gandhi, the former Congress president, is scheduled to address a public rally in Beohari, located in Shahdol district, on October 10, according to K K Mishra, the president of the state Congress media department. On October 12, party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will take the stage for a rally in Mandla.
Both gatherings will also feature MP Congress chief Kamal Nath and other prominent party leaders, Mishra added.
This will mark Priyanka Gandhi’s fourth public rally in Madhya Pradesh in recent times, with her most recent address occurring on October 5 in Mohankheda, Dhar district. Previously, she had held rallies in Jabalpur and Gwalior.
Rahul Gandhi’s rally in Shahdol will be his second in the state, the first being on September 30 in Shajapur district. Notably, his Bharat Jodo Yatra had traversed through the state last year.
During her Mohankheda rally, Priyanka Gandhi reiterated the Congress party’s commitments and advocated for a caste census, while also accusing the BJP-led state government of engaging in corrupt practices.
The Congress has made several promises in the lead-up to the elections, including pledges for free and subsidized power, the reinstatement of the old pension scheme, a waiver on farm loans, and a monthly allowance of Rs 1,500 for women.
In the 2018 state assembly polls, the Congress formed a coalition government under Kamal Nath’s leadership with support from the Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), and independent candidates due to the absence of a clear majority winner. The Congress secured 114 seats in the 230-member House, while the BJP won 109 seats. However, the Nath-led government collapsed after 15 months when a faction of Congress MLAs, mostly loyal to Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, defected to the BJP. This led to the saffron party’s return to power in March 2020, with Shivraj Singh Chouhan as the Chief Minister once again.
